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CLARENCE M. WOOLLEY 

PRESIDENT THE AMERICAN RADIATOR COMPANY 
AUTHOR OF CHAPTER ON 

“Selecting and Training Executives” 


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i 


EMPLOYER AND " 
EMPLOYEE 


HOW TO SELECT, HIRE, TRAIN AND 
RETAIN EMPLOYEES —BUILDING UP AN EFFI¬ 
CIENT WORKING FORCE-THE BEST METHODS OF PAY¬ 
ING EMPLOYEES - THE PROBLEMS OF THE EMPLOYEE-HOW 
TO SECURE AND HOLD A POSITION — HOW THE EM¬ 
PLOYEE MAY FIT HIMSELF FOR PROMOTION¬ 
WORKING UP THROUGH THE RANKS 


CLARENCE M. WOOLLEY 
President, The American Radiator Co. 

H. A. WORMAN 

Former Manager Employment Department, National Cash Register Co. 

C. M. JONES HERBERT J. HAPGOOD 

Superintendent, The Fair President, Hapgoods 

JOHN V. FARWELL, JR. 

Treasurer and General Manager, John V. Farwell Co. 

And Other Contributors 



(Cljiragn Nem fnrk Emt&mt 

THE SYSTEM COMPANY 
1907 




I 


r.UrfARYof CONGRESS 
Iwo Copies Received 

SEP 24 ‘90 r 


Copyriftit Entry 
2V 

CLASS A XXc„ No. 


/*77S<) 

COPY D' 



Copyright, 1907, by 
The System Company 


Entered at Stationers’ Hall in Great Britain, 1907, by 
The System Company _ 

Entered according to the Act of the Parliament of 
Canada, in the year 1907, by The System Company, at 
the Department of Agriculture 

Entered according to the Act of Parliament of the 
United Commonwealth of Australia, in the year 1907, by 
The System Company _ 

Copyright in Germany, France and Mexico, 1907, by 
The System Company 







PREFACE 


The greatest problem before the modern business 
man is the organization and maintenance of his work¬ 
ing force. The first essential to a successful career 
for the employed man is to fit himself for definite 
work and then to secure the position where he can 
use his ability to the best advantage and gain ad¬ 
vancement. 

The realization of these two facts, proven true 
by the experience of every man, has led the publish¬ 
ers to add this book on “Employer and Employee” to 
the Business Man’s Library. It is not a discussion of 
the “labor problem,” so-called: of petty quarrels be¬ 
tween employers and employees over half an hour’s 
time or half a dollar’s pay. It does not teach an em¬ 
ployer how to squeeze his working force down to 
the minimum wage, nor the employee how to hold 
the club of disruption over his employer’s head. 

Business harmony and industrial progress are 
promoted by other means than these. This book is 
based on the belief that they can be secured, on the 
one hand, through proper organization of the working 
force, consistent treatment of employees, careful se¬ 
lection of men, fairness and candor in all dealings 
with them; on the other hand, through thorough train¬ 
ing for a particular kind of work, honesty in stating 
one’s qualifications, judgment in taking a position, 
experience in the things that contribute to giving sat¬ 
isfaction, willingness to use every effort for the busi- 

• • • 

111 



IV 


PREFACE; 


ness in which one is employed. To the discussion of 
such questions, this book, the eighth volume in the 
Business Man’s Library, is devoted. 

The first part considers the viewpoint and prob¬ 
lems of the employer, and discusses the selecting, hir¬ 
ing and organizing of a working force, the systems 
by which it may be handled satisfactorily and the 
methods by which the individuals and the force may 
be developed in efficiency and capability. 

In the second part of the book, the employee’s 
point of view is maintained: how to secure a posi¬ 
tion, how to hold it, how to prepare himself for higher 
positions, how to work up through the ranks. These 
points are treated in their varying aspects as they ap¬ 
pear in different lines of activity and in every grade 
of workmen—from manufacturing to retailing, from 
office boys to executives. 

The men who are most competent to discuss these 
matters are the men who have had experience in 
them—employers who have hired and handled work¬ 
ing forces, employees who have made the most of 
their opportunities. Such men have written this book, 
and have therefore made it a practical textbook. They 
are not theorists, writing on something that they 
know not of, but men who have tried and succeeded, 
and whose names count for much in the lines of work 
concerning which they write. 

To all these men the thanks of the publishers are 
due for their co-operation in this task, and for the 
time and thought they have devoted to the perfecting 
of their individual chapters. 


THE PUBLISHERS. 


CONTENTS 


BOOK I—THE EMPLOYER 


PART I —HOW TO FIND, SELECT AND HIRE MEN 

Chapter Page 

I. Engaging and Keeping an Employee . 3 

Herbert J. Hapgood, President, Hapgoods 
II. How to Select and Develop Office Boys. ... 13 

Herbert J. Hapgood 

III. The Organization of a Competent Stenographic 

Force. 18 

Herbert J. Hapgood 

IV. How to Select and Train Office Clerks . 23 

Herbert J. Hapgood 

V. Building Up a Sales Force. 29 

Herbert J. Hapgood 

VI. Securing and Training Technical Men . 35 

Herbert J. Hapgood 

VII. How to Build up an Advertising Staff . 41 

Herbert J. Hapgood 

VIII. The Search for Cost Accountants . 46 

Herbert J. Hapgood 

IX. How to Secure Factory Workers. 51 

H. A. Worman, Former Manager Employment 
Department, National Cash Register Co. 

X. Building Up a Retail Sales Force. 59 

C. M. Jones, Superintendent, The Fair 

XI. Selecting and Training Executives . 65 

Clarence M. Woolley, President, The American 
Radiator Co. 

XII. Building a Business Machine. 71 

John V. Farwell, Jr., Treasurer and General 
Manager, John V. Farwell Co. 


Part II — SYSTEMS AND RECORDS FOR HANDLING THE 

WORKING FORCE 

XIII. The Machinery of Hiring Men . 76 

Herbert J. Hapgood, President, Hapgoods 

XIV. Handling Application and History Records . 82 

O. N. Manners 

XV. Timekeeping and Payroll Systems . 92 

James Germain 

XVI. Paying Labor for the Best Results . 102 

Hugo Diemer, Shop Systematizer, Goodman 
Manufacturing Co. 

v 





















VI 


CONTENTS 

BOOK II—THE EMPLOYEE 


Partlll —HOW TO SECURE A POSITION 


Chapter Page 

XVII. Choosing an Employer . 115 


H. A. Worman, Former Manager Employment 
Department, National Cash Register Co. 

XVIII. The Essentials of Personal Salesmanship. . . 123 
H. A. Worman 

XIX. Applying for a Position as Office Clerk. .. . 132 
S. Roland Hall, of the International Correspond¬ 
ence Schools 

XX. How to Secure a Position as Bookkeeper .. 146 
S. Roland Hall 

XXI. How to Secure a Position as Stenographer 150 
S. Roland Hall 

XXII. How to Secure a Position as Retail Clerk . 155 
S. Roland Hall 

XXIII. How to Apply for a Position as Advertising 

Man. 159 

S. Roland Hall 

XXIV. How to Apply for a Position as Technical 

Man. 164 

S. Roland Hall 


Part IV —HOW TO ACQUIRE TRAINING FOR HIGHER 


POSITIONS 

XXV. How to Work Up Through the Ranks . 169 

H. A. Worman, Former Manager Employment 
Department, National Cash Register Co. 

XXVI. Self Training for a Head Bookkeeper’s Posi¬ 
tion . 178 

Charles A. Sweetland, Consulting Accountant 

XXVII. The Making of a Credit Manager . 183 

G. William Barnum 

XXVIII. Preparation for the Work of a Purchasing 

Agent . 190 

F. Lancaster, Purchasing Agent, Goodman Manu¬ 
facturing Co. 

XXIX. Training for Salesmanship . 194 

W. A. Waterbury, Sales Manager, A. B. Dick Co. 

XXX. How to Become a Correspondent . 199 

Charles R. Wiers, Chief Correspondent, Larkin 
Soap Co. 

XXXI. How to Become an Advertising Man . 204 

William D. McJunkin, Advertising Agent 

XXXII. Securing Promotion to a Foremanship . 208 

Hugo Diemer, Shop Systematizer, Goodman 
Manufacturing Co. 

XXXIII. The Rise of a Chief Engineer . 213 

Hugo Diemer 

















BOOK 1 


THE EMPLOYER 







CHAPTER I 

ENGAGING AND KEEPING AN EMPLOYEE 

BY HERBERT J. HAPGOOD 

President, Eapgoods 

There is undoubtedly somewhere in the world a 
man competent to fill successfully every high grade 
position; the difficulty generally is to locate him. 
Many of these capable men are in the wrong place, 
in places which they have long since outgrown or 
which never offered the right opportunity for their 
ability. 

Good buyers of human ability are extremely rare. 
The president of a very large eastern company makes 
the employing and managing of his men his princi¬ 
pal duty and gives to it the largest part of his time. 

“And why not?” he asks. “Our business is so 
large that I can but roughly outline the plans for it. 
I must have men—capable, energetic, trustworthy 
men—to carry out those plans, men who will grasp 
my ideas with intelligence and enthusiasm and turn 
them into cash results. All men cannot do this. The 
success or failure of my business depends absolutely 
upon finding men who can, and upon directing their 
work to the best advantage.” 

The selection of any high grade man is a matter 
that should not be hurried, and the more important 
the position you have to fill the more time you should 
give it. The candidate’s application should be in 

3 









4 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


your hands several days before the interview with 
him, and if possible you should personally talk with 
some of his former employers. Personal expression 
as to a man’s ability and character is worth more 
than any quantity of statements in formal letters of 
recommendation. So many firms are in the habit of 
giving letters of glowing praise to everyone who was 
ever connected with them and especially to the hon¬ 
est incompetent whom they want to let out easy, that 
written testimonials carry little weight. 

The head of a large business would not talk with 
one of his customers concerning a $500,000 contract 
when he was out of temper, ill or ex- 

Good Temper 

as a Factor in tremely busy. He would think he must 
Hiring Men b e j n ^ ie ver y b es t possible mental and 

physical condition for the interview, so that he could 
achieve the best possible results for his firm. But 
when it comes to hiring high grade employees, who 
may be worth to him far more than a half-million 
dollar contract, he does not let these things stand in 
the way, and often allows his own ill temper or 
worry over business cares to influence him against a 
really capable man. And a good man lost to a firm 
in this age of strenuous competition for human brains 
and energy is a most serious matter. 

Why not meet every man who applies to you for 
a position in a perfectly fair spirit? You will find 
it best to sink your petty likes and dislikes and look 
at him from an impartial standpoint, judging just 
how much he is worth to you. There is no reason 
why you should not judge a man with the same cool 
accuracy with which a buyer judges a piece of cloth. 

The object of your interview with the candidate 
himself should be to draw him out as much as possi- 





HERBERT J. HAPGOOD 


5 


ble and get a clear idea of all phases of his character 
and ability. If he is a man worth considering at all, 
he will naturally put his best efforts forward, but the 
wise employer will want to see the other side, too. 
Nine applicants out of ten have a nice little made-up 
speech, a unique argument, or a few set remarks con¬ 
cerning their experience and capabilities, but you 
should try to switch them off these and get them to 
talk freely and naturally. For this purpose it is often 
a good idea to meet the man outside of your office. 
Study him as a man as well as for your position. 

One prominent New York employer makes a prac¬ 
tice of interviewing candidates for high grade posi¬ 
tions at luncheon or dinner. He believes it is best 
to see the way a man conducts himself outside the 
office, and by entertaining him for an hour or so at 
a restaurant he has a chance to watch him closely 
and see just what is in him. As the meal progresses 
the man will come out of himself far more than in 
the formal interview in the office. This same em¬ 
ployer, by the way, invariably pays for the lunch or 
dinner, because he does not believe in allowing him¬ 
self to become under obligations to his employees. 
He would rather have them feel slightly in debt to 
him, so that he can at any time make an unusual re¬ 
quest and expect to have it granted without feeling 
that he is adding to his liability to his men. 

If there is one point on which you are pgrticu- 
la@y interested to know how a man stands and which 
„ T _ you are afraid he will dodge, try the indi- 

Gettmg Infor¬ 
mation by Indi- rect question. This is pretty sure to 

rect Questions b r j n g ou t the desired information. For 
instance, if you want to find out whether a man is in¬ 
terested in racing, ask his opinion of some noted horse 



6 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


of the season. This will take him off his guard, and 
his reply will give you the truth of the matter. By 
a series of general questions, which will suggest them¬ 
selves as the interview progresses, you will be able 
to bring out all there is in the man. Make a man 
talk about himself. 

After you have become well acquainted with the 
applicant, it is a good idea to ask him to name his 
strong points. You can wind up your series of ques¬ 
tions with these: “Now, what do you think is your 
strongest point? Do you think that you are most 
capable in executive work, detail work or salesman¬ 
ship?” If you have done this rightly, the man will 
forget himself for a moment and will show his 
strength in some particular line. In some cases his 
vanity will assert itself and he will be inclined to 
brag. This will furnish you an opportunity that you 
should not fail to grasp. When he is at the height 
of his boastful descriptions of his strong points, the 
clever employer will interrupt and say, ‘ ‘ That is very 
good. Now, what is your weakest point?” 

This query often has a startling effect. The av¬ 
erage man will stop short his conversation, his face 
will flush, and he will try to pull himself together. I 
place little intrinsic value upon the man’s reply, but 
I know of no question that will show his true self more 
clearly. It is a question that will bring out character, 
and character is what we want. Some men will an¬ 
swer by saying that they have no weak points, others 
will try to dodge the question entirely. 

The ablest man usually knows his weak points. 
One of the most capable men I ever knew said in re¬ 
ply to the question, “I have a tendency to work by 
spurts, keying myself up to a high pitch for a short 


HERBERT J. HAPGOOD 


7 


time and then dropping down a few notches.’’ In 
the two years that he held the position for which he 
was engaged he proved a remarkably steady worker 
and his employers were unable to detect any such de¬ 
ficiency, simply because he realized his failing and 
was constantly on his guard against it. 

In interviewing candidates for positions it will 
be well to remember that few men will apply for a 
position for which they possess no qualifications. Ev¬ 
ery man is likely to be worth something to you, and 
to refuse to give him consideration is throwing away 
a chance to strengthen your force. The average em¬ 
ployer is apt to think he possesses the gift of second 
sight. He judges too much by first appearances. If 
a man is not dressed to suit him or not the type of 
face which meets his whim, he is apt to turn him 
down in short order. 

The president of a western corporation said to 
me once of a man who is one of his most trusted 
and valuable assistants: “When this man walked 
into my office ten years ago, he was the worst speci¬ 
men of long, lean, lank countryman I had ever seen. 
I was tempted to have my secretary show him out 
without ceremony, but some impulse which I could 
not explain at the time led me to talk with him. I 
had not been talking with him three minutes before I 
discovered that the fellow had an unusual amount of 
ability, and ability of an unusual kind. When he be¬ 
gan to talk, his face lighted up so with enthusiasm 
and intelligence that my unfavorable impression was 
quickly effaced. I gave him employment in a sub¬ 
ordinate position and in two years he had made him¬ 
self worth more than any other two men I have ever 
hired. 


8 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


A good point to keep in mind is that Nature 
sometimes hands out her choicest assortments of 
brains and energy in the ugliest packages. 

If a man impresses you favorably at the first in¬ 
terview and you are still doubtful whether your opin- 

, ion is right, it is best to arrange for an- 

To Banish the & 

Applicant’s other meeting. Many men are selt-con- 
Embarrassment conS cious and do not show their true 

worth at the first meeting; further acquaintance is 
necessary to bring it out. A little egotism is not bad; 
better that than always L T riah Heep’s “Yes, sir.” 

If on seeing him two or three times you are still 
in doubt of his making good don’t hire him. I make 
it a fixed rule never to hire a man about whom I 
have any doubts. Enough men whom I believe are 
capable will fail without trying any doubtful cases. 
Doubtless there are many exceptions to this rule, but 
I believe it is too expensive to find them. 

It should be remembered that the employer has 
something to tell the employee about himself and his 
business as well as many things to learn about him. 
The man who is ready to step into a position about 
which he has had no advance information will seldom 
make a'desirable employee. He should be told fully 
about the work he will have to do. Discussing it with 
him will bring out whether he is going to be able to 
handle it. And if he is the man the employer wants, 
the latter will take a long step toward making him a 
first class employee by showing that he is his friend 
and that success for both depends upon faithful effort 
and hearty co-operation. With young men especially, 
the interest and enthusiasm the employer shows in his 
interviews will do much toward starting them on the 
right track. 


HERBERT J. HAPGOOD 


9 


Some employers who know how to buy ability 
do not know how to use it when they get it. They 

Ability to Keep are like the P olitician who “had no trou- 
Men the Next ble in buying votes, but couldn’t make 
Step to Learn them stay bought. ’ ’ When an employer 

appreciates the value of capable employees and knows 
how to secure them, he has only begun to solve the 
employment problem. Competent men will be worth 
no more to him than men of mediocre ability unless 
he knows how to keep and to use them. 

Many employers adopt the dangerous theory that 
there are plenty of capable men in the world and that 
special effort to retain their employees is not worth 
while. Following out this idea, they are constantly 
making changes and gain so bad a reputation that 
men of the most desirable class are reluctant to enter 
their employ. Even if they are always able to fill the 
vacancies with right men, they suffer a serious loss 
in time required to break in new employees and in 
the spirit of dissatisfaction that pervades the force. 

I have in mind a very large and well known man¬ 
ufacturing house which apparently thinks frequent 
changes are good business policy. Its executive po¬ 
sitions during the past years have been filled by a 
surprisingly large number of high grade men, and it 
is still able to attract such men by large salaries. It 
hardly seems possible, however, that men can give 
their best efforts when they see how brief the terms 
of their predecessors have been, and know that they 
themselves will be down and out in a short time, no 
matter what results they may produce. “There’s no 
use killing yourselves for this firm”—this is the atti¬ 
tude men invariably take toward such an employer. 
I do not mean by this that an employer should 


10 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


retain poor men. But he should be as zealous in re¬ 
taining competent men as he is in dismissing the in¬ 
competent. Even if he has no difficulty in filling the 
vacancies he creates, the actual loss resulting from 
the changes is a serious matter. 

There are probably very few cases where con¬ 
stant changes are due to a deliberate policy on the 
employer’s part. Inability to retain men is more 
often due to the fact that he does not know his em¬ 
ployees—does not understand their relative value to 
him and the manner in which each one of them should 
be handled. 

The employer who does not have this knowledge 
is not only doing harm to himself but injustice to his 
employees. The proprietor of a certain manufactur¬ 
ing business which ought to be successful, is con¬ 
stantly on the verge of failure, simply through his 
inability to solve the employment problem. He seems 
to appreciate the value of good men and is able to 
find them, but does not know how to use them. He 
has only a vague knowledge of their relative values. 
Promotion of poor men causes the resignation of the 
good ones, and the energy of his force is weakened 
by jealousy and dissatisfaction. In spite of his hon¬ 
est efforts to do well by his employees, he is deserv¬ 
edly unpopular with them and is known throughout 
the country as a poor man to work for. 

If you use care in selecting your employees, 
every one of them is worth a careful trial. Perhaps 
the failure is not entirely his own fault, 

A. Tricil ** 

for Every New but is due to conditions which can be 
Employee remedied. Another point to remember 
is that it takes some men longer than others to adapt 
themselves to new work, and very often the most 


Herbert j. hapgood 


11 


capable man will be the slowest in showing what is 
really in him. 

It seems hardly a profitable experience to make 
an establishment a training school for competitors. 
If an employer’s methods are worth anything at all, 
he cannot afford to keep training up young men, and 
then let them go to his rival. 

Many employers seem to think that the only way 
to retain good men is to keep raising their salaries, 
and that economy, therefore, makes frequent changes 
necessary. The truth is that a little talk will often 
do more to retain a man than a dozen advances in 
salary. What the average employee wants is to feel 
that his interests and his employer’s are identical, 
and that the employer wants to retain him so long 
as he makes good. The loyalty and enthusiasm of 
capable men will increase in proportion to their knowl¬ 
edge of the general aim of your business. 

They can exert a tremendous advertising force 
in your behalf. When you set out to fight for foreign 
trade and open offices in Australia and South Africa, 
they will spread the news among their friends. They 
will advertise the fact that the machine you make is 
used the world over; that your food products are 
turned out in the cleanest factory in the United States 
—or a hundred and one other things which it is good 
to have the public know. In short, an employee who 
is interested in a business can prove of as much ad¬ 
vertising value as many dollars’ worth of newspaper 
or magazine space. 

By far the most important factor in retaining 
capable employees is an intimate and thorough knowl¬ 
edge of them. No two men can be handled in ex¬ 
actly the same manner. One will produce the best 


12 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


results when he is constantly under the lash, and an¬ 
other can do well only when frequently encouraged. 
A word of praise might ruin one of the former type, 
and harsh criticism would prove equally disastrous to 
one of the latter. 

One of the most capable salesmen I ever knew 
was spoiled by injudicious praise. He was one of 
those men who need to be constantly 

A. Case Where 

too Much Praise urged in order to show the best that is 
Was Given j n them, and will do especially well when 
spurred on by a desire to beat out other men. Pie 
did well until he went with a firm whose sales man¬ 
ager made it a point to lavish every man in his de¬ 
partment with praise at the slightest provocation. 
Under this treatment the salesman soon began to 
think that he was as near perfect as he could be and 
there was no need of making much effort. His trade 
fell away from him within a year and he was dis¬ 
missed. It was a ease of a capable man who failed 
simply because his employer did not know how to 
handle him. 

Men are not machines, and they resent being 
treated as such. They can do their best work only 
when they are satisfied and enthusiastic, and the wise 
employer, by courtesy, consideration and a careful 
study of their various temperaments, will always 
strive to make them so. 

A loyal, enthusiastic, result-producing force of 
employees is a prime essential to modern business suc¬ 
cess. The ideal force is still a long way from us, but 
employers are constantly drawing nearer to it when 
they use system to find out which of their men are 
worth retaining, and then use tact to retain them and 
get from them the best possible work. 


CHAPTER II 

HOW TO SELECT AND DEVELOP OFFICE BOYS 

BY HERBERT J. HAPGOOD 

President , Hapgoods 

“The office boy is the general manager of to¬ 
morrow.” That was the remark of the general man¬ 
ager of one of the largest furniture houses in the 
world, in whose office I was sitting one afternoon. 

A small boy had come in and had waited until 
the manager turned toward him. 

“Mr. Atkins sent this to you, sir,” he said, and 
laid a pamphlet down on the manager’s desk—then 
stood waiting. 

The manager took the paper, looked the boy over 
with one glance, and nodded. The boy walked out. 

“That’s our newest office boy,” he said to m‘e 
when the door had closed. “In fact, he has just been 
hired. Every boy hired is sent in to me with the 
same package, the same remark, to undergo a mo¬ 
ment’s scrunity. I want to see the boys we have to¬ 
day, for they are the general managers of tomorrow! ’ ’ 

The office boy of a few years ago was looked 
upon as a necessary evil, important only for the ma¬ 
terial he furnished the funny papers, and on Satur¬ 
day night his small wage was grudgingly paid. 

But now he fills an important niche in the busi¬ 
ness world; as the general manager said, he is a 
manager in embryo, 


13 


14 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


How to find the right sort of boy—that’s the 
question. All American cities are long on boys who 
want work; but they are short on the right kind. 

The boy who makes good in business comes gen¬ 
erally from the middle class families and lives in a 
home where he has been taught the importance of 
truth and obedience and where he will be given en¬ 
couragement to succeed. 

“Show me a boy’s mother,” an old English man¬ 
ufacturer used to say, “and I will tell you if I will 
have him in my employ. 

The good effect produced by an expensive suite 
of finely furnished offices is often sadly marred by 

disreputable looking boys. The general 
Office Boys « , « , . 

should Fit the appearance of your place of business—its 

Surroundings personality—is a big factor in your suc¬ 
cess or failure. It gives an impression to your cus¬ 
tomer or client before he sees you, and by that impres¬ 
sion you yourself will often be judged. Is it, then, 
not worth while to make clean hands, a clean face and 
all-around neatness the first requisites for a boy in 
your employ? 

But the selection is by no means the whole thing; 
it is at best a big lottery, for no matter how carefully 
you look over the applicants it is only after a few 
weeks’ trial that you can separate the prizes from the 
blanks. 

And when you do get a boy who proves to be 
of the right stuff the degree of his value to you de¬ 
pends largely on your ability to develop him prop¬ 
erly. 

“How do we get such satisfactory boys?” said 
the head of one of the country’s largest manufactur¬ 
ing companies. “Well, it’s not so much a matter of 


HERBERT J. HAPGOOD 


15 


selection as of training them properly after we get 
them. Of course, I don’t mean that we are not care¬ 
ful to pick out the best material. 

“We give preference to native Americans, al¬ 
though one of the best boys in our service has been 
in America only two years. Other things being equal, 
we prefer boys who have worked little, if any, before. 
About fourteen seems to be the best age. Boys older 
than that are likely to be above their work and want 
their salaries raised too soon. Those whose earnings 
go toward the family support are most satisfactory. 

“We insist that they have a fair knowledge of 
reading, writing, spelling and arithmetic. More im¬ 
portant than the education they have already re¬ 
ceived is their ability and ambition for further de¬ 
velopment. We encourage attendance at night schools, 
and in this way some of our most valuable bookkeep¬ 
ers, stenographers and draftsmen have fitted them¬ 
selves for their present positions. 

“We hire only those who come with the idea of 
remaining permanently provided they make good. \ 
They are closely watched the first week; those who 
fail utterly and those who learn too slowly are 
promptly weeded out, for one incompetent can de¬ 
moralize the entire force. 

“Every boy who enters our employ is given to 
understand that we consider him of importance, that 
we want him to fit himself for something better and 
that he will be advanced as fast as he shows his abil¬ 
ity. From the very start he is given encouragement 
and help. 

“It is less difficult for us to impress boys with 
these facts because of our long established policy of 
promoting from the ranks when we can find the right 


16 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


material there. We prefer to train up our own men, 
and many of the most important desks in this office 
are filled by men who began their careers here run¬ 
ning errands. I’m one of them myself. 

“The boy who just brought that card to my 
desk is studying stenography and is already pretty 
good at it. I discovered the fact by chance and to 
encourage him allowed him to take two or three of 
my letters. I was surprised and pleased to find he 
could take my dictation and transcribe his notes as 
well as many $75-a-month men. He’s due to go 
higher soon. 

“Perhaps we may be giving too much attention 
to our boys, but I don’t think so. The boys of today 
will have to run this business ten or fifteen years 
from now and we shall be repaid then for having 
taken them fresh from school and trained them into 
exactly the sort of employees we want.” 

The difficulty with the office boy problem is in 
many cases not always with the boy; it is often due 
to failure to start him on the right track. 

The new boy should be told carefully and clearly 
what is expected of him and what he has a right to 
expect from his employers. He is bound to make 
some mistakes at first, but if given a little time and 
attention he can be taught to avoid them in future. 

If part of the boy’s work is to be meeting your 
clients or customers and taking their cards to the 
proper desks, too much emphasis cannot 

Adaptability ^ . 

for the Work be laid upon the importance of training 
of Office Boy care fully. Some boys seem born for 

this work. They have a marvelous memory for faces; 
they can spot a book agent before he is hardly inside 
the door; they handle the nervous, irritable visitors 


HERBERT J. HAPGOOD 


17 


with the greatest tact; they offer a man a seat as if 
waiting were a privilege; and they never allow any¬ 
one of importance to go away angry at the delay in 
getting attention. Such boys are rare. 

No boy can make a success of anything unless 
he has his heart in it. The failures of many are due 
to the neglect of their employers to inspire them with 
the proper degree of interest. Get acquainted with your 
boys; make them feel you are interested in them. It 
pays. The manager of one of the largest and finest de¬ 
partment stores in the country can call every one of 
the hundreds of employees by their first names. On 
his daily trips of inspection through the store every 
cash and bundle boy comes in for a kindly word. 
“Good morning, George!” “How’s that sick mother 
of yours, James?” or “They tell me you’re doing 
good work, John; keep it up!” This man believes 
the enthusiasm and loyalty even of his boys worthy 
the effort. The result is that the boys in his employ 
are his friends for life and would work their heads 
off to please him. 


i 


CHAPTER III 


THE ORGANIZATION OP A COMPETENT 
STENOGRAPHIC FORCE 

BY HERBERT J. HAPGOOD 

President , Hapgoods 

Business colleges and the typewriter companies 
are the best sources of supply for stenographers, es¬ 
pecially for women. Many of the commercial schools 
are really excellent institutions and recommend only 
students who are well grounded in the principles of 
shorthand and have attained a fair rate of speed. It 
is a good idea to cultivate their acquaintance so that 
they will clearly understand a firm’s requirements. 

Nearly all the typewriter companies maintain spe¬ 
cial departments for supplying stenographers; and 
some of these are well conducted. It is well to avoid 
those companies which have on hand only a limited 
number of applicants, as the salaries they will de- 
mand will be above the market rate. 

It is of little use to ask candidates for positions 
how many words they can write a minute, for their 
replies will give you no idea of the speed with which 
they can take your dictation. A test on two or three 
letters is of value only for showing whether they have 
cool, clear heads and how well up they are in gram¬ 
mar, spelling and punctuation. Do not always turn 
down the girl who cannot take your dictation per¬ 
fectly the first time. 

18 


HERBERT J. HAPGOOD 


19 


Probably not one employer in ten understands 
what a stenographer should know. Here are the re¬ 
quirements of a good one as summed up by a man 
who has from two to three hundred in his charge: 

“The first class operator knows that his machine 
must be kept free from dirt; that the rollers, escape- 

What a sten men f wheel and other wearing parts must 
ographer be oiled and cleaned at least once a week; 
Should Know that scrapings from a cheap eraser are 

harmful; and that, when he finds it absolutely neces¬ 
sary to make correction, he should use a good eraser 
and cover the basket of his machine to prevent the 
scrapings from falling into the mechanism. The eraser 
has been properly likened to an antidote for poison— 
necessary only in extreme cases—and the good oper¬ 
ator avoids its use. 

“He knows that it does not pay to use a ribbon 
when it is full of holes—new ribbons cost less than a 
new roller. He knows that the two time-killers in 
typewriting are frequent lifting of the carriage (us¬ 
ually without reason), and stopping to make correc¬ 
tions; so that he has learned to write page after page 
without lifting the carriage or making errors. He 
does not allow all the type to become filled with dirt 
before cleaning, but cleans each type as it shows it 
needs it. 

“He takes dictation coolly and in distinct char¬ 
acters. He is not a machine, but has a clear under¬ 
standing of the work in hand, and calls attention to 
unfinished sentences, lapses of speech and such gram¬ 
matical errors as he does not feel at liberty to cor¬ 
rect without mentioning. He is always alert, respon¬ 
sive to the slightest suggestion and often even think¬ 
ing ahead of the one whose dictation he takes. 


20 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


“He is able to transcribe his shorthand notes 
rapidly and accurately; to take dictation direct upon 
his machine; to do tabulated work and billing; to cut 
mimeograph stencils; to manifold; to write all kinds 
of legal papers, depositions and affidavits; to copy 
from printed work or rough draft; to write tele¬ 
grams; to write on ruled paper, on narrow or wide 
sheets; to direct envelopes; or to write post cards. ’’ 

One prime essential in stenographers is secrecy. 
They should be given to understand that the busi¬ 
ness of the firm is absolutely confidential and that it 
is not only business courtesy but also their duty 
never to mention any details, no matter how trivial, 
outside of the office or to other employees. This mat¬ 
ter can be impressed upon them more strongly by 
giving them to understand that their advancement 
will depend in great measure upon the discretion they 
show in this regard. 

“How can you afford to pay that young woman 
$1,200 a year?” someone asked the head of a Wall 
street brokerage house. 

“We pay her $1,200 a year for keeping her mouth 
shut,” was the reply. “We could hire a stenogra- 

A 

pher to do the work she does for half that figure, but 
we can’t afford to have any leaks in our office. The 
young woman you speak of makes herself worth the 
extra $600 by not prattling about our business.” 

It is surprising how little value some employers 
get out of their stenographers. The trouble in many 
cases seems to be that they are afraid or do not know 
how to dictate. There are few things that cannot be 
dictated to a stenographer. 

The most successful business men have their 
stenographers trained to be almost a part of them- 


HERBERT J. HAPGOOD 


21 


selves. In this way only can the executive keep his 
correspondence from occupying practically all of his 
time. 

One day a friend was complimenting the gen¬ 
eral passenger agent on an eastern railway system on 
the conciseness and polish of his letters. “The credit 
belongs out there,” he said, pointing into the next 
room where a half dozen young men were bending 
over their machines. “I give very little time to my 
correspondence and dictate complete replies to less 
than ten per cent of it. Most of it I dispose of after 
this fashion, ‘Turn him down hard,’ ‘Grant the us¬ 
ual rate,’ ‘Arrange for extra train service,’ and so 
on. That’s all—and the stenographers do the rest. 
It took some time to train them to do it, but it cer¬ 
tainly pays by saving my day for more important 
things and by fitting the boys for promotion.” 

Every stenographer should be more or less of a 
private secretary, and taught to take the mass of de¬ 
tail work off the hands of his superior. Stenogra¬ 
phers should be familiar with filing systems so that 
they cannot only file papers, but can look up points 
on different subjects as instructed without imme¬ 
diate supervision. 

As a business proposition it pays to treat sten¬ 
ographers well—to provide a comfortable place for 
them to work in, to pay them extra when 

U6 JociCl # # # 

Reputation as there is much night work and to give 
an Employer them reasonable notice when their serv¬ 
ices are no longer needed. A firm’s reputation in this 
respect travels fast. A Kansas City manufacturing 
company gained a reputation for ill-treatment of its 
stenographers that required years to live down. “Bet¬ 
ter no job at all than one with Blank & Company,” 


22 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


was the slogan of every stenographer in the city and 
surrounding towns. The company was put to great 
expense and inconvenience through having to im¬ 
port its stenographers from a distance and pay them 
higher than the market prices. 

There is no department of an office which will 
repay systematic attention better than the steno¬ 
graphic work. Letters should not be allowed to re¬ 
main over in the note book from one day to another 
unless they are reported back at night as unwrit¬ 
ten, and in no case should one remain fifteen hours 
in a book. When this occurs it is time to increase 
the force. 

A business man should see to it that his work 
is done accurately and neatly. The world judges 
his business by what it can see, and there is too 
much advertising value in a neatly written, correctly 
spelled letter, with a clean wide margin, to permit 
of careless work. 


CHAPTER IV 


HOW TO SELECT AND TRAIN OFFICE CLERKS 

BY HERBERT J. HAPGOOD 

President, Hapgoods 

“It is hard to find mechanics to make our goods, 
and hard to find salesmen to market them, but it is 
hardest of all to find capable, trustworthy clerical 
men. I could use fifty clerks of the right type to¬ 
morrow.” 

In these words the president of a well known 
manufacturing company speaking recently before an 
eastern board of trade summed up the universal de¬ 
mand for clerical men. 

Business is no longer a mere game of chance. 
It is now a game of brains, in which each move is 
carefully recorded, analyzed and studied with a view 
to its bearing on some future move. No plan of 
action, however limited, is accepted until it has been 
weighed in the scale of past experience and reduced 
to cold, hard facts. 

Formerly even the shrewdest business man knew 
only once a year, and then only in a general way, 
whether the game was for or against him. Today 
the president of the largest corporation knows to 
the dollar, and almost to the minute, the progress 
his business is making. 

System has put business on this scientific basis, 
and still more the men behind the system—the clerks 

23 


24 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


who devote their whole time to recording, computing 
and analyzing. Upon their work depends the suc¬ 
cess of every enterprise of any size. 

There are still a few employers who insist that, 
because our colleges and universities offer no courses 
of instruction in billing or shipping or cost account¬ 
ing, college trained men are worse than useless in 
office work. This idea is slowly but surely dying 
out, and it is surprising that it should have any ad¬ 
vocates in the face of the success which so many 
employers are having with college men. 

The Western Electric Company is probably the 
best example of the value of the college man in 

starting in purely clerical work. Many years ago 
College Men at this company began taking on each year 
Office Work a num k er of young graduates, starting 

them in its offices at nominal salaries and advancing 
them as they showed ability. Careful records showed 
that over ninety per cent of these men made good, as 
compared with ten per cent of the non-college men. 
Today a large majority of its executive officers and 
department heads are college men, and it is hiring 
every year a constantly increasing number of young 
graduates. Nor is this an isolated instance. Sears, 
Roebuck & Co., the various branches of the Amer¬ 
ican Bell Telephone Company, and other large em¬ 
ployers have had similar experience. 

Whether you employ college or business school 
graduates, or men who have had no training, you 

. will find that the best results in the 
The Advantage 

of Country Bred long run come from the men from farms 
Young Men an d the small towns and villages. From 
this it is not to be understood that all city bred 
men are incompetent, but simply that the percentage 


HERBERT J. HAPGOOD 


25 


of success runs higher among the country bred. 
This is true in all lines of work, but particularly 
so in clerical. 

“It may be because I was a country boy my¬ 
self,” says a man who probably hires more clerical 
men in a year than anyone else in the world, “but 
I always give preference to the young man from the 
tail-grass districts, who comes to the city to make 
a way for himself. At the start he is fearfully green, 
awkward and inexperienced, but he has the goods 
in his clothes. 

“He is honest, punctual and loyal. He is will¬ 
ing to work for a small salary and to live within it. 
His habits are good and his capacity for hard work 
far greater than that of the average city bred boy. 
He is contented and permanent. Being a stranger 
in the city he has little or nothing to distract his 
attention from his employer’s interests. It is up to 
him to make good or go back to the farm—and he 
makes good. 

“I am constantly looking for men of this type. 
They often seem too slow and clumsy for office work. 
But these rough edges wear off with surprising 
quickness and they develop into the best kind of em¬ 
ployees. They certainly give satisfaction here; over 
eighty per cent of the men in our offices were born 
and raised miles from the sound of the railroad or the 
trolley car. 

“Give preference to men from the country. 
Avoid relatives and close friends of either the firm 
or employees. Get men of good habits, who are 
too honest to steal either money or time and who 
have the intelligence and will power to do rapid, 
accurate work and the capacity for lots of it.” 


26 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


The term honesty as used in an employer’s code 
covers a multitude of things. A clerical man can be 
dishonest in other ways besides stealing the firm’s 
money or stamps or stationery. He can cheat his 
employer out of valuable time by being late in the 
morning, by beating the clock out of the office at 
night and by generally shirking his work. He can 
rob him of the loyalty of other employees by stirring 
up dissensions and discontent. The really honest 
man does none of these things. Not only is he 
honest as regards money matters, but he gives good 
value in return for his salary. 

The high pressure under which business is done 
makes speed a necessity in clerical work, but speed 
must not be obtained at the expense of accuracy. 
In every large business, one of the most expensive 
departments is devoted to the correction of errors, 
many of them purely clerical. To reduce these mis¬ 
takes to a minimum is a matter of constant effort, and 
the clerical man whose work can be relied upon, not 
merely ninety-nine times out of a hundred, but every 
time, is therefore at a premium. 

1 To ascertain with any degree of certainty 
whether an applicant has the necessary qualifica¬ 
tions for a clerical position, including above all 
the capacity for hard work, there must be a personal 
interview. Even with a careful interview the en¬ 
gaging of a clerical man is still only a game of 
chance to many employers, for good buyers of busi¬ 
ness ability are not plentiful. 

No class of employees is more difficult to handle 
properly than the men in the clerical departments. 
Given the best of men their work will not be all it 
should be unless wisely directed. 


HERBERT J. HAPGOOD 


27 


“Our company has had experience with two 
types of chief clerks/’ says a New York business 

Personality in man * “ 0ne was the hi %’ blustering, 
Handling red-faced man, a stickler for the strict- 
Office Clerks es £ (ji sc ipXi ne> w ho ruled his department 

with a rod of iron and sprinkled all his instructions 
liberally with profanity. There were lots of changes 
in his department, but he turned out the work in 
fairly good shape and we were sorry when he re¬ 
signed and w T e had to put a new man in his place. 

“The new chief was a mild mannered, courteous 
little man, who had a good head on his shoulders, 
but who didn’t look as if he dared lay claim to his 
own soul. The clerks did not know how to take 
him at first, but it was not long before they would 
work their heads off to please him. Changes, which 
even among low priced clerks are mighty costly, be¬ 
came less frequent; there was less trouble in getting 
the men to work on time in the office, and all through 
the office there sprang up a spirit of loyalty and 
enthusiasm very new to us who had been used to the 
old regime. 

“Still we were not sure at all that the new man 
was making good until the reports covering his first 
six months in the place were made up. These showed 
that he was turning out more and better work at 
less cost than his predecessor and, besides this, that 
he was developing some of his young clerks into 
men who are going to be mighty valuable to us. 
When we saw the record in our balance sheets we 
took off our hats to the executive who got work out 
of his men through respect rather than fear.” 

Enthusiasm and loyalty are essential to the best 
office work—there is no doubt of it. And to secure 




28 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


these you must give your clerks some incentive to do 
well and stimulate their ambition. 

To estimate the ambition of clerical men to 
make themselves more valuable to you, they must be 
given to understand that you are interested in their 
progress, and willing to help them show their ability. 

In the office where loyalty and enthusiasm make 
for the best work, promotions are made from the 
ranks, a man is not kept on the payroll a day after 
he fails to make good, and the malcontent who stirs 
up dissatisfaction is dismissed as promptly as the 
incompetent. 


CHAPTER V 

BUILDING UP A SALES FORCE 

BY HERBERT J. HAPGOOD 

President, Hapgoods 

The hardest man in the world to find is the suc¬ 
cessful salesman. The employer who could success¬ 
fully define the salesman’s qualities and infallibly 
select the men who possess them would hold the key 
to commercial supremacy. 

There is no lack of men who think they can sell 
goods and are anxious for the opportunity to prove 
the fact. The sales department of the average busi¬ 
ness receives more applications for positions than 
any other department. It is the ambition of almost 
every retail salesman and of thousands of bookkeep¬ 
ers, clerks and young, inexperienced men to get on 
the road; but out of this army of candidates there 
are very few who really possess selling ability. 

There is no fixed source of supply of available 
material for the sales department. In the average 
selling force you will find men of the most varied 
kinds of experience. Usually only a few have fol¬ 
lowed selling work all their lives—others are for the 
most part men who were in office work or some 
professional line before they found that they could 
sell goods. 

Every employer who appreciates the importance 
of good salesmen is constantly on the watch for men 

29 


30 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


to sell goods. With most concerns there is always 
a place for a good salesman. Very often employers 
pick np valuable salesmen in rather unusual ways. 

“One of the best salesmen we have,” said the 
head of a New York wholesale dry goods house, “I 
hired because he succeeded in inducing me to join a golf 
club. He lived in the same suburban town with me 
and was introduced to me one day on the train. He 
was interested in the formation of a golf club, and 
at once started trying to induce me to join. 

“Now if there is anything for which I have a 
dislike it is athletics of any form, and particularly 
golf, but before our train had reached Jersey City 
this clever young man had not only my promise to 
become a member, but also a $100 subscription from 
me for the purchase of grounds for the club. 

“On thinking the matter over I decided that a 
man who was clever enough to get $100 out of me 
for such a purpose could sell our goods. The next 
morning I made him an offer, which he accepted, and 
he is today one of the largest producers we have.” 

Many firms restrict their supply of available 
material by refusing to employ any man who has not 
* had actual experience in their line and 

not Confined to also an acquaintance in a given terri- 
One Line tory. In some cases this rule may be a 
good one to follow, but it should by no means be 
invariable. The man who can sell goods could sell 
in the moon a line which he had never seen. There 
are innumerable instances of the truth of this state¬ 
ment. 

One of the best hardware salesmen in the United 
States had never sold a dollar’s worth of hardware, 
and had, in fact, never sold any line on the road un- 


HERBERT J. HAPGOOD 


31 


til ten years ago, when he began work for his pres¬ 
ent employers. He had been in the retail drug busi¬ 
ness up to that time, but through lack of capital had 
been wiped out in the panic of 1897. He made ap¬ 
plication for a position with a leading hardware firm 
on Tuesday and the following Saturday he started 
on a three months’ trip. In the first city he visited 
he landed a $2,000 order from a firm which his house 
had never sold before. 

The “want” columns of the daily newspapers 
furnish a very unsatisfactory means of securing 
salesmen. They bring a large number of replies, but 
the task of sifting the men of experience and actual 
ability from the has-beens and incompetents is too 
great to be undertaken by the average employer. 
The trade papers, however, offer an excellent means 
of securing salesmen when knowledge of the partic¬ 
ular line and acquaintance with a particular territory 
are absolutely necessary. 

There is only one safe method of paying sales¬ 
men; that is on the commission basis. By this I do 
not mean necessarily a straight commission, but 
rather that the salary should always be based on 
the actual amount of their sales from month to 
month. 

Two kinds of men work on a straight commission 
basis. One kind is too poor to draw a salary and 

h Com ot ^ er to ° g°°d- I ^ ave a 

mSio^not^ man who in the beginning had begged 
Good Basis f or a sa i ar y— an y sort of a living sal¬ 
ary — an d the employer had refused. Now he has 
done so well that his employer would be very glad 
to pay him on a salary basis. This man, who failed 
as a lawyer and who was discharged as an inefficient 


32 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


bookkeeper, has now, at thirty-eight years of age, 
found his gait in selling skirts all over the western 
territory of a Chicago factory. 

In judging the success of salesmen, due allow¬ 
ance should be made for the difference in time re¬ 
quired for each man to make good. Many men who 
are slowest to strike their gait develop ultimately 
into the most capable workers. This is a point 
which some firms seem unable to grasp, and their 
failure to do so often results in losing good men. 

Only recently a Chicago firm employed a young 
salesman. At the end of his first month in southern 
territory the sales manager decided that he was a 
failure and wired him to return at once. The young 
man replied with an urgent request for another 
week’s time, which was reluctantly granted. Be¬ 
fore his short additional lease of life was up he had 
obtained an order for a carload of goods in a terri¬ 
tory where competition was unusually keen. 

An eastern firm of decorators hired a young so¬ 
licitor and dismissed him at the end of a month 
because he had turned in no orders. The young man 
immediately took a position with a rival firm and 
within two weeks had turned the prospects he had 
secured while in the service of his first employer into 
orders of a size which made him the most valuable 
salesman on the force. 

To be successful, a salesman must be kept con¬ 
stantly informed concerning goods and prices, both 

Keeping Sales ^ rm an ^ ^is competitors, and 

men at Their his enthusiasm must be kept at the high- 
Highest Pitch es j. p 0ss j|q e pitch. This work is made 

doubly difficult because the salesmen are usually at 
a distance from the main office, and instructions, en- 


HERBERT J. HAPGOOD 


33 


couragement and advice must be given them the 
greater part of the time by mail. It pays, however, 
to have at the head of a sales department a man who 
will know the men under him as a workman knows 
his tools, understanding the limitations of the indi¬ 
viduals and how to secure from each the maximum 
results. 


A sales manager who has an intimate, thorough 
knowledge of his men appreciates that no two of them 
can be handled in exactly the same way. Frequent 
use of the lash will secure the best results from one 
man, while another requires constant encouragement. 
Too much praise would ruin a man of the former 
type, and harsh criticism would prove equally disas¬ 
trous to one of the latter. 

While a niggardly policy of remunerating sales¬ 
men is always bad, it should be remembered that 

_ , there are other ways of retaining good 

.encouragement * . 

and Advice at men than by continually raising their 
Proper Time salaries. A word of encouragement or 

friendly advice at the proper time will often do more 
to stimulate and retain capable men than a dozen 
advances in salary. This makes men feel as the 
average employee wants to feel—that his interests 
and those of his employer are identical and that the 
latter appreciates his efforts. 

Inaccurate knowledge of the relative value of 
salesmen often results in injustice to valuable men 
and consequent financial loss to the firm. Many em¬ 
ployers seem to think that the man who speaks to 
them courteously every morning and takes pains to 
call their attention to every large order is the best 
man in their service. They often overlook the 
“plugger,” who is on duty early in the morning and 


34 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


late at night, and who, while not a brilliant man and 
while not securing any very large orders, sends in, 
from day to day, a steady stream of small orders, 
which in the long run amount to more than those 
of the showy and better paid man. 

To obviate this, every business house should 
have a method of keeping track of each man and 
also of the profits from them, such as are described 
in a later chapter, for it often happens that the man 
who makes the largest sales does so at such a cut 
in prices as to practically remove all net profit. 


CHAPTER VI 


J 


SECURING AND TRAINING TECHNICAL MEN 

BY HERBERT J. HAPGOOD 

President, Hapgoods 

The technical man is the autocrat of the business 
world. His genius is the foundation of a large ma¬ 
jority of commercial enterprises, and on his advice 
almost every undertaking depends for success. Even 
in the financial world bankers and brokers in mak¬ 
ing investments or advancing money for new enter¬ 
prises first seek his endorsement. 

With so many technical schools turning out 
thousands of men annually, it seems almost para¬ 
doxical that there should be so great a demand. 
The truth of the matter is, however, that the busi¬ 
ness world could use almost twice as many technical 
graduates as are now being supplied. In the city 
of Pittsburg, for example, it is safe to say that five 
hundred draftsmen of the right experience could be 
put to work tomorrow, and still the demand would 
not be supplied. 

The technical man comes closer to the life of 
every great business than any other class of worker. 
This is shown by the fact that an unusually large 
number of men in responsible executive positions are 
men with technical training. The presidents of'the 
largest railway systems of America, as well as sixty 
per cent of the higher executive officials in the steel 

35 


36 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


industry, are men with engineering education. In 
fact, such an education is almost an essential for men 
who are to direct the policy of any large company. 

The comparatively small supply of technical men 
is not due to any unwillingness on the part of em¬ 
ployers to pay adequate salaries. It is not a question 
of price, but of getting the right men and enough 
of them. 

The method used by the owner of extensive 
mining properties in Alaska is typical. When he 
needs a smelting superintendent, he sends a repre¬ 
sentative to one of the smelting centers, selects the 
most competent man he can find in this line and 
offers him whatever salary is necessary to induce 
him to make a change. If the man he wants is re¬ 
ceiving $8,000, and will not leave for less than $12,- 
000, he pays him the latter figure. It is in all cases 
a question of the man and not the salary. 

From the employee’s standpoint no line of work 
offers better financial conditions. So large and so 
constant is the demand for technical men that a man 
of mediocre or even poor training is sure of steady 
employment at a good salary. 

The difficulty with the draftsman problem is 
that almost every technical man wants to get off the 
board and keep off. Very often he is willing to ac¬ 
cept a lower salary for the sake of getting into 
some other kind of work. While this is true of 
technical graduates, it is the height of ambition of 
many mechanics and men who have had no theoret¬ 
ical training to become draftsmen. This ambition 
should be encouraged, for such men often prove 
more competent workmen and are usually better con¬ 
tented than the technical graduates. 


HERBERT J. IIAPGOOD 


37 


The average draftsman is, lacking in familiarity 
with practical shop work. He does not know how 

Securing to make dmwings that can be handled 

Draftsmen from most easily in the shop, and often he 
the Shops produces designs that are absolutely im¬ 

possible to work out. Knowledge of shop work be¬ 
ing so desirable in draftsmen, it pays to keep an eye 
on the men in the shop and encourage those who 
have the necessary ability and ambition to attend 
night schools or take correspondence courses and fit 
themselves for the work. Institutions like the Car¬ 
negie Technical Schools offer such men exceptional 
facilities for acquiring the training to go higher, and 
the graduates they are turning out will go a long 
way toward relieving the present shortage of drafts¬ 
men. 

More difficult to find even than the purely tech¬ 
nical man is the man who combines with his technical 
training, selling or executive ability, or both. The en¬ 
gineer is too often purely an engineer, without the 
personality or inclination to sell goods or get results 
from other men. Probably no combination commands 
a higher salary than technical and selling ability. 

A manufacturing company lately wished to se¬ 
cure a mechanical engineer with thorough experi¬ 
ence in the use of crude oil as fuel, to act as sales¬ 
man in the eastern states. It was an excellent posi¬ 
tion, with a most attractive salary, but a man pos¬ 
sessing anything like the right qualifications could 
not be found. The use of crude oil as fuel is com¬ 


paratively new, and there are in the world only a 
few men experienced in this line; of these, there 
is apparently none who has the personality neces¬ 
sary to succeed as a salesman. A mechanical engi- 


38 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 

i 

neer experienced in the burning of crude oil, and 
having a small amount of selling ability, could have 
secured $3,000 a year, with commission and expenses, 
from this firm. 

Technical men know their own value better than 
any other class of employees, and unless a business 
will stand frequent changes the employer must be 
prepared to pay them full market price. Even by 
doing this it is difficult to insure their permanency, 
as competitors will be constantly trying to hire away 
your best men. 

In their efforts to get technical men, employers 
are using practically every means. Many of them 
carry standing display advertisements in leading 
newspapers, and maintain a special department in 
charge of high salaried men in the endeavor to keep 
constantly on hand a supply of available technical 
material. 

As a general thing, newspaper advertisements 
are not successful methods of reaching the best tech¬ 
nical men. The really capable technical man gener¬ 
ally has so many offers open to him through his own 
efforts that he does not read the “want” columns. 
These mediums, as a rule, bring answers only from 
men who are out of work through their own incom¬ 
petence or unreliability. If an employer is willing 
to pay the right price, the trade papers and technical 
journals offer an excellent means of reaching the 
most 'desirable class of men. 

There are also several thoroughly reliable agen¬ 
cies which make a specialty of supplying technical 
men. These organizations are of special assistance, 
as they deal almost exclusively in men at present 
employed, and investigate carefully the character 


HERBERT J. HAPGOOD 


39 


and ability of all applicants before offering them 
for positions. 

As almost every employer wants in his technical 
departments men trained in his own business, the best 

Young Techni- method is to take on young men fresh 
cal Men Much from the technical schools and train them 
m Demand U p to suit particular requirements. This, 
however, is easier said than done, as the young techni¬ 
cal graduate is as much in demand as the man of long 
experience. 

Last year every man in the graduating class of 
a well known technical school had at least three 
offers of employment, and some of the more capable 
men had as many as ten. 

Two of the large electrical manufacturing com¬ 
panies alone employ every year between six and seven 
hundred graduates. They have established such a rep¬ 
utation for the training they give that they are able to 
secure the best men far below the market price. They 
train these men up in the various departments, advanc¬ 
ing them as they prove their ability; but even with 
such a large number growing up in the business, their 
supply of men is never adequate. 

The employer wishing to secure any considerable 
number of young technical graduates must get into 
the market early through the agencies, through per¬ 
sonal letters to college professors, or by sending a rep¬ 
resentative to some of the leading institutions. The 
average graduate has so many opportunities literally 
thrown at him that it is not so much a question of sal¬ 
ary at the start as of opportunity to gain valuable 
experience and win advancement when he proves his 
ability that influences him to regard one offer as bet¬ 
ter than another. 


40 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


The scarcity of technical men emphasizes the 
need of some system in every business for keeping rec- 
_ . T . . ords of available men of all kinds. The 

of Available president of a New York manufacturing 
Technical Men com p an y attended the annual dinner of 

his college alumni association in that city last month. 
At his office the next morning he dictated cards con¬ 
taining the names and addresses and brief abstracts of 
the experience of a number of technical men whom he 
had met there, together with their present employers, 
and the probable salaries at which they could be se¬ 
cured. 

“I never fail to make note of every technical man 
I meet,” said he, ‘‘whether on a suburban train, on a 
steamer, or at an affair like that of last evening. Tech¬ 
nical men of the right sort are too scarce to be over¬ 
looked, and while I may have no present use for the 
men I meet, I may need them next week, next month or 
next year, and when I do their records are at hand.” 

Only a trained technical man, who can rightly 
measure experience in others, can successfully hire and 
oversee the work of engineers, chemists and drafts¬ 
men, for with this class of men practical experience 
plays a larger part than with any other. 

In hiring a technical man, one thing should not be 
overlooked—his capacity for work. No matter how 
routine his duties may be, the employer wants him to 
be a man of ambition, who will make himself master 
of his work, and by study outside office hours, will 
keep pace with the progress of the engineering world. 
Only the man who does this can hope to achieve suc¬ 
cess for himself and give his employer the best possi¬ 
ble value. 


CHAPTER VII 

r * 

HOW TO BUILD UP AN ADVERTISING STAFF 

BY HERBERT J. HAPGOOD 

President, Hapgoods 

There are few firms nowadays which place their 
advertising appropriations entirely in the hands of 
one man with full authority to do as he pleases. The 
advertising manager is an autocrat no longer. His 
work has been reduced to something like an exact 
science. The importance of advertising is so thoroughly 
appreciated that the head of nearly eA r ery company 
prefers to personally oversee the work and take direct 
charge of the expenditure of the company’s money. 
Thus the danger of getting into the power of a man 
who will leave or threaten to leave just when his em¬ 
ployer most needs him is minimized. 

But there is still much difficulty in finding just 
the man possessed of what we may call elementary 
advertising qualities to carry out the work of the de¬ 
partment under the direction of the president or gen¬ 
eral manager. 

Much of this difficulty is due to the fact that there 
is no accepted method of training for the work. The 
careers of the most successful advertising men show 
this. They have followed no fixed line of promotion, 
but have drifted into advertising work, as it were, 
often from branches having little or no relation, or 
without any working experience. 

41 




42 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


The authors of a recent work on advertising call 
Napoleon the fairest prototype of the advertising man 
because he possessed the three elementary requisite 
qualities, namely—genius for organization, knowledge 
of human nature and capacity for tireless study of 
causes and effects. Napoleons are rare in history. So 
are advertising men who possess all three of these 
qualities. 

It is the capacity for tireless study of causes and 
effects, or, as it might better have been called, the ca¬ 
pacity for hard work in which many otherwise capable 
men are lacking. In fact, there still prevails among 
many people the idea that hard work is not essential 
to advertising success. This has been handed down 
to us from the days when advertising was a bunco game 
rather than a business proposition. It has been fos¬ 
tered by stories of how fortunes have been made 
through catchy phrases or bright ideas which popped 
into someone’s head while smoking an after-dinner 
cigar. 

This idea is partly responsible for the scarcity of 
really capable advertising men. There are innumerable 
bright men—brilliant men—who might increase their 
efficiency one hundred per cent and earn far larger 
salaries if they would not place so high a valuation on 
their own cleverness. 

The wise employer will avoid this type of man 
when considering applicants for positions in advertis- 

Persistence a departments. He does not want the 

Trait to be sky-rocket type of worker, who will do 

Desired something really creditable today and then 

not earn a tenth of his salary for two weeks. He wants 
originality and cleverness, it is true, but not at the 
expense of persistence and energy. 


HERBERT J. HAPGOOD 


43 


A man’s ideas are worth little unless he has nerve 
to stand up for them in the face of all kinds of oppo¬ 
sition. He must not be afraid to throw bricks when he 
thinks them necessary, even when it would be more 
pleasant to throw bouquets. Intelligent criticism, even 
when outvoted, is a very valuable thing. It brings out 
the bad features of a plan and throws the good 
ones into bolder relief. 


A few years ago a young advertising assistant 
saved his employer thousands of dollars by having his 
own ideas and standing up for them. He strenuously 
opposed a plan for a campaign involving a large expen¬ 
diture, despite the fact that it had the backing of a 
$10,000-a-year manager and several other supposedly 
good authorities. His opposition attracted the atten¬ 
tion of higher officials of the company and on sub¬ 
jecting the plan to close scrutiny they saw for them¬ 
selves the weakness which he had pointed out. 

Together with courage, the advertising man should 
have faith in whatever business he is connected with. 
This faith can come only with complete knowledge. To 
do the best work every man in the advertising depart¬ 
ment should be in the closest touch with every other de¬ 
partment. This is why many very capable men are ap¬ 
parently slow to get results. They cannot do their 
best work until they have fully familiarized them¬ 
selves with the business. 

Thorough knowledge of a proposition being so es¬ 
sential, men for the advertising department should be 

„ . . transferred to it as often as they can be 

Experience in . y 

Other lines of found m the other departments or the busi- 
Business ness. A man who has sold goods either in 
the house or on the road, or one who has had experience 
in the manufacturing end, offers ideal material provided 


44 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


he has the elementary qualities we have noted, together 
with the necessary technical knowledge of printing, 
language, and so on, or the ability to acquire it quickly. 
Interest in advertising is so widespread nowadays that 
you will find a great many young men anxious to learn 
the work and willing to start at a low salary in order 
to get into that department. As a general thing, it is 
more profitable to try out men having a general knowl¬ 
edge of your business in preference to men who have 
had a little more experience in advertising but know 
absolutely nothing about your particular line. 

No matter how capable its individual members, 
every advertising department needs to be handled with 
care in order to achieve its maximum success. It is 
not an easy matter, for the work of advertising is in 
many ways different from any other department in 
the business and has to be done under quite different 
conditions. Some employers have an indescribable 
knack of infusing into their advertising men the en¬ 
thusiasm and interest on which they thrive and at the 
same time of working them to the limit without letting 
them get stale. Unfortunately, the means by which 
they reach this very desirable end have not been re¬ 
duced to an exact science. 

The men who are doing your advertising should 
be allowed as much scope as possible for /their indi¬ 
viduality. Although you may be personally in charge 
of the general campaign and may have a tight grasp 
on the purse strings, never let the impression be 
gained that ideas are not at a premium. As capable an 
advertising force as was ever gathered together was 
ruined in this way. The men got it into their heads 
that they were not there to think for themselves, but 
simply to carry out instructions in routine fashion. 


HERBERT J. HAPGOOD 


45 


In criticizing the work, you should always remem¬ 
ber that two men may prepare advertisements which 
are absolutely different and yet will prove equally 
efficient in producing results. In judging the merits 
of advertising copy you must try to sink your own in¬ 
dividuality and remember that there are thousands of 
men who may not be affected by the same appeals that 
would reach you. 

Give the advertising man a chance to show re¬ 
sults before weighing him finally in the balance. You 
will often find that the ideas and personality which he 
has put into his work have appealed to a larger class 
of the public than your own v r ould have reached. 


CHAPTER VIII 


THE SEARCH FOR COST ACCOUNTANTS 

BY HERBERT J. HAPGOOD 

President, 'Hapgoods 

When a business falls sick—when the balance on 
its yearly statement is on the wrong’ side, or if on the 
right side, is not as large as it ought to be—the trouble 
is usually lack of system. Little leaks are sapping the 
very life of the business and nullifying the efforts of 
the selling and executive departments by running the 
cost of the product so high that the margin of profit is 
turned into an actual loss. The business steadily de¬ 
clines and winds up its career at last in the bankruptcy 
courts—unless its owners have the good sense to call 
to its aid a competent cost accountant. 

Wise men nowadays do not wait until their busi¬ 
ness is actually in a decline before calling a business 
doctor into consultation. A thorough cost department 
is installed at the very beginning to guard against fu¬ 
ture troubles. To keep a business in prime condition is 
far easier and less expensive than to build it up after 
it has become badly run down. It is not always the 
losing proposition that most needs the business doc¬ 
tor’s attention, but the one which might be earning 
even larger dividends than it is. 

Competition, by compelling close selling figures, 
is forcing more and more manufacturers to realize the 
importance of an adequate cost system. At one time 

46 


HERBERT J. HAPGOOD 


47 


this careful attention to the expense of prod uc; ion was 
not necessary, but conditions changed, the cose >f man- 
ufacture increasing materially and the selling pi Ice 
remaining about the same. In order to meet compe¬ 
tition it became necessary to know exactly what it 
was costing to turn out every part of its product. 

With the profits of a business depending abso¬ 
lutely upon thorough, accurate knowledge of the cost 
of production, it is evident that this is one of the most 
important departments in any manufacturing concern, 
and that too much attention cannot be given to finding 
the proper man to handle it. 

Every employer will tell you that good men in 
this line are scarce. One reason, which is now grad¬ 
ually passing away, is the fact that many manufactur¬ 
ers are just waking up to the importance of cost work, 
and until recent years have been unwilling to pay suffi¬ 
cient salaries to stay in the business. 

Another reason for the scarcity of good cost men 
is found in the exceptionally severe requirements of 
Why Good the wor ^- Probably no line requires a 

Cost Men wider variety of qualifications. Only a 

Are Scarce very small percentage of the self-styled 

“experts” are really worthy of the name. One of 
these men who points with pride to experience of over 
twelve years with leading firms, frankly admitted the 
other day his ignorance of controlling accounts and 
the purpose they serve. Yet this man and others like 
him demand and secure high salaries for their services 
because really competent men are so rare. 

Some of the characteristics to look for in selecting 
accountants can be easily outlined. Education and 
experience alone cannot make a man a good cost ac¬ 
countant. He must have certain natural qualifications 


A 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


for the work. First of all, he must be of good per¬ 
son t cactful and capable of winning the confidence 
of a 1 J classes of men. This is of the utmost importance, 
foi in order to succeed he must have the co-operation 
of the men in the shops and offices, and these are 
usually hostile to the installation of any new system, 
believing that the old method is good enough and that 
a change might cheat them out of their jobs. 

In overcoming this opposition he needs an almost 
inexhaustible fund of patience. It is slow work, hard 
work, and often involves the most unpleasant kind of 
friction with his associates. Although he must be a 
quick thinker and courageous enough to stick by his 
convictions, he must never advocate any policy—how¬ 
ever trivial—unless sure it is right. The only way he 
can win the favor of the men upon whom he must so 
much rely is by inspiring their confidence in his ability 
and the correctness of his judgment. 

The better his education, the greater his chances 
for success. He should have a good mathematical 
training and a good knowledge of general accounting. 
If he is somewhat of a technical man so much the bet¬ 
ter, for this will enable him to understand what is 
told him by the foreman and to separate the truth 
from the misinformation which will often be intention¬ 
ally supplied. 

This training in the theoretical side of the work 
should be supplemented by the widest possible practi- 

Cost Work ^ now ^ e dge, including familiarity with 

That is too systems used in the best manufacturing 
Expensive plants, even those entirely outside of the 
work in which he is engaged. As some one has well 
said, “the cost man is often too theoretical, and drives 
a plug that costs $5,000 a year to stop a $l,000-a-year 


HERBERT J. HAPGCK 


leak.” The good cost man thoroughly appro iat; ; ; 
value of money, and the best ones I have ever see a i e 
those in whom the idea of economy is so ingrained 
that they never see a piece of work performed with¬ 
out thinking whether it could not be as well or bet¬ 
ter done at less cost. 

Another quality not to be overlooked is honesty. 
Very often the investigation of a manufacturing plant 
may disclose a system of graft involving the highest 
officials of the company. By concealing these dis¬ 
closures or revealing them only to persons who might 
be willing to pay for keeping them covered up, he can 
often reap a temporary personal advantage. The great 
majority of employers, however, want a man who is 
honest and who has the courage of his convictions. 

The records of the cost department are often 
among the valuable assets of a manufacturing concern. 
If they should leak out to competitors it would in many 
cases cause serious financial loss, if not absolute ruin. 
The men in charge of this department must be men in 
whom the utmost confidence can be placed, for they 
have in their possession the secrets of the business; its 
strong points as well as its weak. 

Another question that is the subject of much dis¬ 
cussion is the value of the expert public accountant as 
„ compared with one who remains perma- 
Expert Should nently in your employ. The answer to 
be Permanent undoubtedly depends almost entirely 

upon the size of the firm that is installing a cost system. 
If the concern is small, it is undoubtedly wiser to em¬ 
ploy an expert accountant whose high grade services 
can be secured at a price based upon the length of 
time it will take him to do the work and who can be 
replaced by a considerably cheaper man as soon as the 


50 


. /LOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


sv is in good running order. Then, too, his expe¬ 
as a general rule is much broader than that of 
o man who has installed systems with a compara¬ 
tively few concerns and it is a great deal easier for him 
to adapt himself to the requirements of small tirms. 

In a large manufacturing establishment the per¬ 
manent man is usually preferred to the public ac¬ 
countant who serves many clients in the course of a 
year. With him there is no necessity for hurrying mat¬ 
ters unduly. The system can be installed gradually 
without overturning all the departments at the same 
time, and when it is once installed he remains to keep 
it in good running order. 

A new man in charge of the cost department 
should be allowed ample time to familiarize himself 
thoroughly with conditions throughout the plant, in¬ 
cluding the various processes of manufacture and 
the methods of handling both the raw material and 
the finished product. 

Of course the man in charge of your cost work 
must stand or fall on his own personal magnetism and 
his ability to impress the men in the shops and offices 
whose co-operation he must have that his ideas are 
right and worth while. Many employers, however, 
make his work even more difficult by failure to give 
him the necessary authority and to show the other 
employees that they are back of him in his efforts to 
put an efficient and economical system into success¬ 
ful operation. Once you make it clear that the leaks 
are to be stopped and the old slipshod methods abol¬ 
ished, your employees will not be slow to appreciate 
that the only thing to do is to get in line and render 
all the assistance in their power to make the new 
methods a success. 


CHAPTER IX 

HOW TO SECURE FACTORY WORKERS 

BY H. A. WORMAN 

Former Manager Employment Department, National Cash 

Register Co. 

Labor is the chief commodity entering any factory. 
Outlay for raw material, fuel, supplies, rarely equals 
the payroll totals by month or year. Usually wages 
amount to twice the cost of materials; in many fac¬ 
tories where the finish and accuracy of parts require 
elaborate processes, the money spent for men trebles 
the expenditure for the wood and iron which they fash¬ 
ion into finished product. 

Is this overwhelming importance of labor recog¬ 
nized in the methods used in bargaining for it ? Analy¬ 
sis shows the contrary to be true. The purchasing 
agent for materials bulks large in every organization 
of size. In rank and salary he is the peer of the sales 
manager. To aid him, all the resources of the organi¬ 
zation are marshaled; foremen bow to his decisions. 

Purchase of labor, on the other hand, is treated as 
incidental. The selection of workmen is either made a 
part of the duty of the superintendent, left to the fore¬ 
man, or entrusted to a minor official having none of the 
authority and not more than a third of the pay of the 
purchasing agent. Yet every consideration prompting 
that machinery and raw stock shall be bought by a 
specialist familiar with the market conditions of the 
hour, applies with equal force to the purchase of labor. 

51 


52 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


Men are harder to judge than bars of steel, brass 
ingots or bales of fiber. “According to sample” does 
not hold in dealing with them. Every man is a sample 
of himself, whose fitness can be determined only by 
patient inquiry, which superintendent and foreman 
haven’t time to conduct. They act on the theory that 
the simplest way is to try the applicant out. It is sim¬ 
ple—also costly beyond reason. To be charged up 
against the process, there is the time lost by the 
skilled worker who “breaks in” the new recruit, the 
materials spoiled, the tools injured during the opera¬ 
tion, the future education of the novice, the decrease 
in product from the machine or bench involved. It is 
true that the average man must be broken in. The 
point to be remembered is that the process pays only 
when a permanent workman is thereby developed—and 
that careful, methodical selection of applicants by a 
trained mind will save more than it cost. 

The ideal force is that which turns itself only at 
long intervals. That way lies efficiency of effort, un- 
Efficiency in derstanding and co-operation with the 
a Permanent management, reduction of spoiled work 
Working Force anc [ b ro k; en tools—in one word, economy 

of manufacture. Trying out inefficients as a substitute 
for intelligent selection works another evil to the com¬ 
pany practicing it by spreading the report of easy dis¬ 
charge and the difficulty of holding a job or “making 
good.” 

Many competent mechanics and office men lack the 
art of personal salesmanship; long service in a single 
organization may make embarrassing the very neces¬ 
sity of applying for a place elsewhere, and only care¬ 
ful handling will bring out their real worth and capa¬ 
bilities. On the other hand, the man of many jobs 


II. A. WORMAN 


53 


lias gone through the ordeal so aften that he has 
learned how to present himself in the most favorable 
light. He may have learned, too, just what positions 
are open and have planned his approach and his 
replies accordingly. 

The “drifter” is glib with excuses for his va¬ 
rious changes—the desirable man will be as brief as he 
is frank about his reasons for leaving his last place. If 
he was discharged, he may be bitter—no capable, in¬ 
dustrious worker can be blamed for resenting a “ pay¬ 
off ” slip. But if he is sweeping in his condemnation 
of conditions at his last place, it is safe to reject him 
unless the agent knows from other sources that the 
case is much *as he describes it. The confirmed 
“knocker” usually presents his negative credentials 
by word of mouth, and no degree of skill can counter¬ 
balance the effect he will have in the shop or office he 
is assigned to. 

In hiring skilled workers of any sort, it is worth 
while at least to secure a confidential report from the 
man’s last employer. Address your query to the fore¬ 
man for whom the applicant worked, securing his name 
for that purpose; letters to the general manager may 
fail to bring a response on the very point you wish to 
emphasize. Usually the answer will be prompt and 
honest; employers are coming to understand that their 
interests in this respect are mutual. 

Hire a sound body for every job. In a laborer, 
vigor and muscular development are everywhere recog- 

„ , . nized as essentials. Less attention, how- 

Valne of Phy- . , _ _ _ , . . , 

sical Health ever, is paid to the health and physical 
in Workers condition of factory and office workers 

whose work does not require sustained bodily effort. 
Yet health is quite as important for the mechanic or 


54 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


machine tender whose eye must be true and whose 
hand steady. Not only is the output of the healthy 
man greater than the weakling’s, but its quality is 
higher, his lost days are fewer and the man himself is 
less liable to accidents due to fatigue, over-strain and 
dulled faculties. 

The place of health and sound limbs in the equip¬ 
ment of employees is recognized by the regulation of 
all the larger and more progressive organizations that 
a man must pass a physical examination before he 
signs the payroll. In the smaller factory, the eyes of 
the employment agent must do the work of the physi¬ 
cian’s stethoscope. 

Like reasons command the rejection of any indi¬ 
vidual bearing signs of dissipation. Competition has 
cut profit margins to the minimum where two or three 
Monday-idle machines in any group make serious in¬ 
roads on the department’s earnings. 

Here are the three groups into which workmen 
range themselves as they face employers: 

First, unskilled laborers — truckers, janitors, 
shovel ers, material handlers—men of mighty sinews 
under poor control, lacking the brain development, ex¬ 
perience or training which would fit them for anything 
but routine, muscular effort. 

Second, semi-skilled “handy men”—assemblers, 
operators of drill and punch presses, milling, molding 
and a hundred other half-automatic machines—possess¬ 
ing intelligence, adaptability and some knowledge of 
tools, but untrained in the exact use of them or the 
possibilities that lie in them. 

Third, skilled workmen—mechanics, tool and pat¬ 
tern makers, machinists, hand molders, screw-ma¬ 
chine operators, cabinet makers. Having served ap- 


H. A. WORMAN 


55 


prenticeships, they are credited with all-around knowl¬ 
edge of their trades, but in practice they are usually 
specialists, the factory system directing their skill 
toward perfection in some circumscribed field. 

What are the essentials to be kept in mind in 
hiring individuals in each of these classes? Bodily 

The Essential s t ren gth, of course, is the unskilled man’s 
Points in stock in trade. Add a brain sufficiently 
Hiring Men awake to grasp the most effective way of 

performing the routine duties assigned to him or to 
carry out the directions of a gang boss, and you have 
the minimum measure of a laborer. His hands will tell 
you whether he is accustomed to toil; his shoulders, 
legs, arms whether he has the physical force to perform 
the tasks you would set him at. His manner of moving 
and standing will indicate alertness c stupidity, initia¬ 
tive or a habit of dependence. Clumsiness may be in¬ 
terpreted as lack of intelligence sluggish motion as 
index of slow thinking or dearth of energy. 

Age is important—eighteen to thirty-five are the 
years of maximum vigor, though a laborer of forty-five 
with a particular set of highly developed muscles is 
an admirable investment if he is healthy and you need 
a specialist of his stripe. Size is a matter of moment 
only when the work demands weight, as trucking, 
handling heavy materials and the like. The well knit 
man of medium size makes up in quickness, stamina 
and adaptability for any pounds he may lack. Length 
of service in his last place should count, especially if 
the company be known as an employer of good men, 
and the applicant’s reasons for changing will pass mus¬ 
ter. If he is married, that is an additional guarantee 
of steadiness, industry, sobriety—his responsibilities 
will anchor him to the new job. Character, honesty, 


5G 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


self-respect are qualities which the man’s face, his ap¬ 
pearance, and previous record will indicate. 

This is the laborer reduced to a common denomina¬ 
tor. If you want a trucker who will remain a trucker 
indefinitely, you need study your applicant no further. 

Harnessing raw man-power to tread-mill tasks, 
however, is not the function of the employing agent in 
most American factories. Fortunately for both em¬ 
ployer and employee, manual labor is looked on as the 
first rung in the ladder which leads up to the succes¬ 
sive planes of handy man, mechanic, even foreman. 
The demand for skilled workers far exceeds the sup¬ 
ply and will probably continue so for some years. The 
wise employment man, therefore, hires laborers whose 
youth, mental equipment and ambition make it possible 
to develop them either by direct or merely incidental 
training into machine tenders or mechanics of the spec¬ 
ialist type. Indeed, the chance to rise in this way may 
be used as an added inducement to young men who 
otherwise could never be secured as truckers and de¬ 
partment laborers. 

Experience, brain power, adaptability are the 
vital qualities to look for in a semi-skilled worker. In 
The Mental native mental and physical equipment, he 
Equipment of must almost be the equal of the skilled 
Trained Men WO rker—the latter’s apprenticeship mak¬ 
ing the real difference in capacity. Indeed the two 
classes may almost be treated as one as far as natural 
qualifications go. It is in the closely related matters 
of training and experience that the distinction must be 
emphasized. 

Experience counts for much, because it has shaped 
the applicant and given him ineradicable standards of 
what constitute quality and finish. Therefore hire me- 


H. A. WORMAN 57 

chanics and handy men who have been employed in 
plants using your own types of machines or producing 
work of approximately equal grade. 

Too much thought cannot be given to the examina¬ 
tion of high grade mechanics and handy men. They 

The Backbone ^ orm the backbone of the factory organi- 
of a Factory zation, set the pace for the whole machine, 
Organization hold the reputation of the company in 

their hands. All that has been said about health, free¬ 
dom from roving and convivial habits, and general 
education applies with double force to these skilled 
men. If an applicant owns or has owned property or 
a savings account the circumstance is worth noting. ' 

A record of frequent changes may add to his value 
if he be a young man, since three or four factories 
have contributed to his education, and comparison of 
shop practice and methods added to his mastery of 
his trade. If he be past thirty, however, and his stays 
in successive factories show no lengthening tendency, 
it may be assumed that he is a rover and not to be 
counted upon as a permanent workman. 

In engaging a high grade man, it is worth while 
to bring him into direct contact with the machine or 
the work with which he professes himself familiar. If 
he be incompetent, a brief examination will betray his 
lack of skill and knowledge. Five minutes spent in 
the shop will give the foreman a chance to ‘‘size him 
up” and thereby check the employment man’s conclu¬ 
sions. Given a glimpse of the shop, too, the man, if 
he have acid instead of iron in his blood, will scarcely 
resist the temptation to criticize the equipment, the 
other workmen, the methods of the product, and thus 
exhibit the fatal weakness he may before have con¬ 
cealed. 


58 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


His opinion of former employers is another clue 

to his disposition. If he be a fault finder or meddler, 

_ ,, no degree of skill or technical knowledge 

Equitable ° ° 

Wages for New will outweigh his mischievous tongue. The 
Employees final question is that of wages. It is a 
mistaken policy, according to my experience, to hire a 
man for the smallest amount he will accept or to pay 
him the maximum rate at the beginning. All lines of 
factory work have a starting point generally recog¬ 
nized as equitable, a man requiring some time to f£ get 
the hang” of unfamiliar tasks and accustom himself 
to his new surroundings and having, naturally, less 
value to his employers during this period. If the 
company has been paying the accepted rate to others, 
there is no real profit in beating an applicant down be¬ 
cause he needs work badly. He invariably discovers 
that advantage has been taken of his position to drive 
a hard bargain. Dissatisfaction follows immediately, 
he does not give the company his best efforts, he takes 
the first opportunity to demand an increase or seek 
another situation. Whatever his action, the trifling 
saving does not make up for the loss or spoiling of a 
man who might, if contented, have developed into an 
admirable workman. 

Fair treatment, on the contrary, gives him an 
initial impulse of enthusiasm and an abiding desire to 
clinch his hold on a permanent place with a company 
willing to deal so justly with its employees. He will 
apply himself to speedy mastery of the job assigned to 
him, and the increase in his output for a single day 
will sometimes repay the additional wage for a whole 
week. 


CHAPTER X 

BUILDING UP A RETAIL SALES FORCE 

BY C. M. JONES 
Superintendent, The Fair 

In a retail establishment the superintendent 
should hire all but the very lowest grade of employees 
himself. A man who in the course of two hours must 
interview between one and two hundred applicants, 
and choose from these the twenty he wants, must be a 
judge of men and women, an observer of human na¬ 
ture. This knowledge requires long experience in 
handling men and detailed information regarding the 
needs of the store itself, and, therefore, it is the man in 
the closest touch with the labor situation and needs of 
the house who can best perform this work. 

All applicants are required to fill out the usual ap¬ 
plication blank—giving their name, address, previous 
employment and employers, and references. Aided by 
his observation of an applicant’s personal appearance 
and general make-up, a shrewd observer with long ex¬ 
perience in dealing with this class of people can read in 
these few written facts the whole history of an appli¬ 
cant, and must be guided principally by these facts. 
The references given can only be looked up after the 
applicant is hired, and are of use chiefly for verifica¬ 
tion. 

I do not believe in asking written answers to ex¬ 
haustive and intimate questions. Such information can 

59 


60 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


be secured in the course of a short conversation almost 
without the knowledge of the applicants. Applicants 
object to answering in writing inquiries regarding 
their family history, their circumstances, living ex¬ 
penses, and so on, because they think an employer has 
no right to make them. They do not understand why 
they are asked. I ask them because I want to know 
whether an applicant can live on the competitive wage. 

We must pay what the labor is worth, not what 
the laborer is worth. A girl earning six dollars a week 
may be capable of filling positions which pay ten, but 
as long as she is filling the six-dollar position her work 
is worth only six dollars. 

But, in spite of this, we often do, as must all em¬ 
ployers who wish to build up an efficient force, pay 
more than the competitive price, when we 
know that an employee cannot support 
himself and those dependent upon him on 
-for no employer can afford to have em- 
underpaid that they must seek outside 
eke out their necessary income. For in¬ 
stance, only a few days ago, a woman applied for a 
position with us. I found that she was a widow with 
two children, and that her expenses required an income 
of twelve dollars a week. I had nothing higher than 
seven-dollar positions that morning, but a few days 
later I found a position which paid twelve dollars, 
which I gave her. Had I not asked her detailed per¬ 
sonal questions, she would have been put in the seven- 
dollar position, with bad results to both parties. 

All this information must be obtained before an 
applicant is hired, and without letting him know the 
drift of the inquiries. If we were to discover such facts 
after employing him and immediately raise his salary, 


Disregarding 
the Competi¬ 
tive Wage 


wage- 


th is 
ployees so 
sources to 


C. M. JONES 


61 


we would soon find that we had in our employ number¬ 
less widows with two children to support and youths 
with dependent relatives, for the handler of workmen 
must realize that what he does unto one of his em¬ 
ployees will soon be known to all. 

When a workman is employed, he is first sent to 
his department head, where is is instructed in his 
specific duties. If he is a salesman, he studies the stock 
behind the counter sufficiently to enable him to present 
it to the customer. The department head and the as¬ 
sistant superintendent keep their eyes upon employees, 
especially the new ones, and are ready to answer any 
questions regarding the stock, and often give detailed 
instructions to individual salesmen in regard to the 
goods, and also in the finer points of salesmanship. 

One of the most efficacious methods we use for 
directly instructing employees is a series of lectures 
or talks given by different people, generally women, 
experienced in department store work, both as sales¬ 
men and executives. The lectures are delivered infor¬ 
mally during the dull hours of the day to as many em¬ 
ployees at a time as the lecture room in the store will 
hold. They usually treat of some phase of salesman¬ 
ship, or individual betterment, and the fact that the 
lecturer is generally a regular employee of the store 
make them particularly strong, since his regular work 
enables the lecturer to draw his suggestions and illus¬ 
trations from the iife of the store itself. The lectures 
are written along general lines laid down by the super¬ 
intendent, who goes over them carefully. The lecturer 
is admitted into conference between him and depart¬ 
ment heads or officials, so that he may understand the 
lines along which the superintendent is working and 
grasp the needs of the store. 


62 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


The salesmen are kept in touch with the policy 
and activity of the store management, so far as con- 
_ , „ cerns the sales. For instance, advertise- 

Kept Posted on ments appearing in the papers are passed 
Advertisements aroun( j each morning or afternoon to the 

heads of all departments, and they pass them on in 
turn to their salespeople, who carefully study them. If 
the house is making a special effort on some line of 
goods, or special sales in some department are inaug¬ 
urated, the interested salespeople are notified of this 
fact. Thus the selling force does not work blindly, 
but in close harmony with the management. 

A feature which has brought very good results is 
the introduction of special salesmen. These are men 
and women experienced in retail selling, who walk 
about the part of the store assigned to them, and when 
one sees a dissatisfied customer or a salesman in 
difficulty, he goes to the rescue. Very often he suc¬ 
ceeds in making a sale when the customer has left a 
counter without buying. 

Accurate records of each salesman’s time and his 
weekly sales are kept. Yet these black and white rec¬ 
ords are not, after all, the most important elements in 
the handling of employees. The impression that the 
clerk makes personally upon the employer is really 
most significant. And for this reason the personal 
touch between the two, the human side of their rela¬ 
tionship, should be particularly emphasized and de¬ 
veloped. To this end, I encourage all employees to 
come to me at any time, and I never refuse an audience. 
I let clerks take care of the records—they are dead, 
and cannot be stimulated. Give me the personal con¬ 
tact and knowledge of an employee—with the records 
to fall back upon. I spend three hours a day in my 


C. M. JONES 


63 


office, six around in the store among the employees. 
This is the real record book of work done—the eight 
floors of the store. A man looks very different at ten 
in the morning, making application for a position with 
his best clothes on and his best foot forward, than he 
does at four o’clock in the afternoon, leaning over a 
counter. 

There are six floor superintendents in this store, 
and two assistant superintendents, who spend all their 
time on the floor. The employee is given every op¬ 
portunity and every encouragement to carry any 
trouble he may have to some one of his superiors. 

Sometimes particularly able work will bring in¬ 
crease in salary from the superintendent. In some in¬ 
stances a department head recommends a raise, but 
usually the employee will ask for it before its neces¬ 
sity becomes altogether plain to the former. This is 
encouraged, not frowned upon. Very often the in¬ 
crease is granted, and, if not, I hold that it is well to 
know what a clerk thinks of his own position—that it 
is better to be obliged to go to the trouble of con¬ 
vincing him that he is receiving what he deserves, as 
shown by his sales records, than to have him brood 
into chronic discontent. 

Sales and other records are valuable in making 
raises and promotions, but to rely on them exclusively 
is a mistake. A saleman’s attitude, disposition, gen¬ 
eral utility may be such as to make him valuable to 
the house, and still his value may not appear in the 
records. 

It is just as unsafe, of course, to determine these 
questions without reference to such records, but I be¬ 
lieve the leaning toward reliance on records and sub¬ 
version of the personal element is to be avoided. 


64 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


A sharp watch is kept on the total sales and ex¬ 
penses of each department, and just as an individual’s 

_ . sales are supposed not to fall below a cer- 

Companson . 1 r 

of Sales by tain percentage, so a department must 
Departments CO me up to a certain standard. Depart¬ 
ment heads must be made to feel that their records are 
being closely watched and that they must either bring 
results or tell the reason why. 

Every morning the superintendent receives from 
the accounting department a sheet showing the exact 
condition of the store, by departments, for the preced¬ 
ing day and also for the same day the year before. 
This sheet records the number of the employees, the 
sales or work done, and the department expenses, on 
each of these two days. Such a sheet shows ex¬ 
actly how a department head is managing his depart¬ 
ment and what progress—which in business means in¬ 
creased product and decreased expense—he is making. 
It is a subject of much study and constant reference on 
the part of the superintendent and of consultation with 
his managers. 

Any suggestions as to changes in stock, or in de¬ 
tails of management, are invited from salesmen and 
department heads; the latter are supposed to make sug¬ 
gestions frequently and salesmen are required, when¬ 
ever goods are asked for which the store does not carry 
or has not in stock, to make out a special report, stat¬ 
ing this fact. 

If an employee feels that his side of the question, 
his opinion, his suggestions, are going to be consid¬ 
ered by his employer; if he knows that his relations 
with an employer are those of one human being toward 
another, it will do much to make him contented and 
efficient. 


CHAPTER XI 

SELECTING AND TRAINING EXECUTIVES 

BY CLARENCE M. WOOLLEY 
President, The American Radiator Company 

The selection and training of executives is a task 
that should fall to the lot of department heads. In 
our corporation each head is expected to develop and 
train his successor, so that when the time comes for 
promotion, there will be an available man to step into 
every place left open. It often happens in business 
houses that an executive fails of promotion because he 
has not trained someone to step into his place. I 
have known men who were short-sighted enough to 
think that they held a tighter grasp on their positions 
by refusing to teach another how to do the work. Such 
a policy is sure to keep a man down. In large organ¬ 
izations, it is a paramount duty to train successors to 
present executives, and our company has developed a 
plan of self-perpetuity. We have never gone outside 
of our own organization to fill executive positions. 

The selection of a man to be trained for an execu¬ 
tive position is a matter as complex as human nature 
itself. No formula can be laid down. In our own ex¬ 
perience, every young man is regarded in the light of a 
possible future executive. The heads of the various 
departments are expected to study the temperaments 
and put men at the work best adapted to their abilities 
and tastes. If a man develops traits that indicate 

65 


66 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


special talent for another department than that in 
which he works, it is assumed that he will be trans¬ 
ferred there. It is an important part of an executive’s 
duty to watch his men carefully and intelligently for 
executive ability. 

The qualities that should manifest themselves in a 
man, in order to make him a candidate for an execu- 

Quaiifications ^ Ye P 0 ^ 011 ? are hard to define. In the 
for an Execn- first place, knowledge of the business is 
tive Position essential, and he must have proved his 

industry and devotion by a service extending over a 
series of years. He must have shown effective work in 
the ranks, a moral temperament reasonably fitted to the 
tasks assigned to him, and a special adaptability to the 
particular calling to be taken up. Initiative is a very 
important quality to be watched for, and a quality 
which shows itself very early, and in the humblest of 
positions. We have all seen young men with ideas, 
and young men without ideas. The man who origi¬ 
nates, and puts things forward, and improves on old 
methods, is the man who is the most apt to be chosen 
for an executive place. Self-reliance, too, is very nec- 
cessary. 

There are certain traits, of course, which all men 
must possess if they hope to rise in the business world. 
They must have self-control that enables them to meet 
emergencies and difficulties smoothly; they must have 
morality; they must be temperate. Together with 
these homely traits, a man must exhibit a real love for 
his work. The executive who is watching for a man 
to train as his successor will select one, other things 
being equal, who can step out of the ranks, taking with 
him an unconscious devotion to his calling—not for the 
pay-check he is to get at the end of the week, but for 


CLARENCE M. WOOLLEY 


67 


the love of the work itself. It is the same principle 
yon find in the art world, or in the world of music. The 
artist paints because he loves to paint. The man who 
sings a song because he loves the song will sing it bet¬ 
ter than the man who sings merely for puy. 

Having selected a candidate for an executive posi¬ 
tion, of course the primary thing is to instruct him in 
the fixed duties of the place he is to fill, and in business 
principles in general. He must learn the technical 
features of his particular calling before he can be en¬ 
trusted with great responsibilities. 

However, training in the secondary stage—that in 
which the embryo executive assumes responsibilities 

Trusting Re- a bove those of a mere clerk—may begin 
sponsibilities very early in his career. It may begin, 
to Young Men - n f ac ^ a ^ ^he same time that his clerical 

training commences. A technical training and the art 
of shouldering responsibilities may go together. Even 
a very young man may be trusted with small responsi¬ 
bilities, and these responsibilities may be enlarged so 
gradually that he will scarcely know he is going up, 
step by step, to an executive position. 

Responsibility is what develops men and makes 
them broad and strong. It is a great creator of execu¬ 
tive ability. When entrusted with it, candidates for 
promotion will show what is in them. Throw men on 
their own resources and see what they do. It is the 
petty cramping of a man that keeps down his abilities. 
Therefore, when you have faith that a man has suffi¬ 
cient knowledge of his business, begin by slipping out 
from under this or that responsibility, and letting it fall 
to the pupil. 

This judgment-developing period is one in which 
the teacher as well as the student must have judgment. 


68 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


Just how far to trust a man, and what important duty 
to turn over to him, or not to turn over to him, is to 
be determined by your knowledge of the man in ques¬ 
tion. Try him first on something not radically im¬ 
portant, or something on which you can reverse him 
if he goes wrong. If he makes a mistake in judgment, 
make it clear to him just wherein he erred. 

Judgment is something that may be guided and 
developed like any other faculty. Immature judgment 
is merely untrained judgment. Therefore, guide the 
efforts of the man you are training just as much in this 
direction as in others. Do it by taking a man into your 
confidence and reasoning the thing out, for judgment, 
after all, is largely reason. If a man knows that you 
are following some particular course because of logical 
reasons for it, he will come to base his own decisions 
and action on similar grounds. 

As your faith in your pupil’s judgment grows, let 
go of more responsibilities. The more you trust him, 
Governing the more he will trust himself. The more 
the Speed of you broaden out his duties, the broader 
Development jj e will become. You can develop him 

slowly or quickly, other things being equal, according 
to the sort of training you give him. 

So, too, the quality of initiative may be developed 
and trained, provided it exists in latent form. It would 
be a mistake to curb or discourage the exercise of a 
quality on which the progress and growth of a business 
so largely depend. Instead, the executive should bring 
out the quality, and, by helpful suggestions and a 
sympathetic attitude, seek to direct it into channels 
where it will be most valuable. 

The abilities of a man should be developed in a 
sort of psychological sequence, rather than by distinct 


CLARENCE M. WOOLLEY 


G9 


steps. An executive trained in this way will be in far 
better position to serve the interests of his company, 
and to direct the efforts of other men, than the execu¬ 
tive suddenly picked from the clerical ranks. The 
best executive is the one who is trained into his place 
by degrees, or who acquires the executive atmosphere 
by assimiliation, and not by leaps. 

Our corporation has followed out these principles 
in selecting and training men to fill executive positions, 
and it has been getting stronger and stronger all the 
time, and capable of producing more and better execu¬ 
tives. There never has been a time that we have failed 
to take advantage of natural opportunities for company 
progress because of the lack of executive ability in our 
own ranks. 

It is surprising how a man will blossom like a 
flower, when given a chance. Executive ability is a 
quality that develops very rapidly. Not once in a 
hundred times will a man fail to do better than is 
expected of him. 

It is very desirable to take men into employment 
when they are young. We do not want to take on 
men who have not within themselves the capability of 
becoming executives. Our best executives today came 
in as boys and made the business a part of their nature. 
We are taking in many young men who want to make 
their way in the world, and if they can devote them¬ 
selves to the tasks before them, they will succeed. The 
incentive to work is great if a man knows that sure ad¬ 
vancement awaits him, and the department executive 
has great inducement to train an understudy if he 
knows that by doing so he is not training himself out 
of employment, but training himself into higher and 
more remunerative occupation. 


70 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


You cannot furnish a man with ability if he hasn’t 
it within him, but you can develop it, and I have seen 
men accomplish extraordinary things who did not 
seem to have much ability in the beginning. I have 
seen men do great things because they knew their sub¬ 
ject, not because they were especially brilliant. In 
these days business is so highly specialized that the 
man is best equipped to succeed as an executive who 
can add to other qualifications that of thorough knowl¬ 
edge of his subject; and Sometimes this knowledge 
makes up for deficiencies in other directions. 

An industrial company, to be well rounded, should 
contain within itself every essential element for self¬ 
perpetuity, by preparing individuals to assume execu¬ 
tive responsibility, from the least important depart¬ 
ment head to the directing chief of the organization. 



C. M. JONES 

Superintendent, The Fair 
Author of Chapter on 
BUILDING UP A RETAIL SALES 


FORCE 






JOHN V. FARWELL, JR. 

Treasurer and General Manager, John V. FanoeU Company 

Author of Chapter on 
“BUILDING A BUSINESS MACHINE” 





CHAPTER XII 


BUILDING A BUSINESS MACHINE 

BY JOHN V. FARWELL, JR. 

Treasurer and General Manager, John V. Farwell Company 


While the individuals of a business house are think¬ 
ing beings and should work freely, as a co-ordinate 
whole, they must work together automatically—they 
must be molded into a smoothly running, precise ma¬ 
chine. 

To build a successful business requires the same 
factor as the building of any great organization; first, 
proper selection of material; second, proper molding 
or training of this material; third, the generation of 
power which is to run the organization, and fourth, the 
transmission of this power into and through the compli¬ 
cated organism. 

The selection of employees follows carefully tested 
principles. 

I have always believed in hiring young men and 
boys for the minor positions and letting them develop 
into the more responsible office positions. The employer 
who has this end in view is necessarily careful whom 
he chooses. 

The first requisite is heredity—that he come from a 
good family. By this I do not mean an aristocratic 
ancestry, but the family show itself industrious, hon¬ 
est and with business instinct—for good blood nowa- 
days means commercialism. 

71 


72 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


Second is environment—which means the home life 
and the bringing up of the boy. If a man has not been 
reared in proper surroundings, he will not have those 
habits of industry, breeding and integrity which we 
want. And if his environment is not good, while he 
is in our employ he will be so influenced by his poor 
surroundings that our training will have no effect upon 
him and he will not fit into our organization. 

Fitness is the final essential in selection. This 
means that he must have good working ability. I have 
never laid great stress upon marked talents—evidences 
of unusual cleverness or business acumen; these are 
likely to produce a superior feeling which means fail¬ 
ure in every related part to do its work. A determined 
propensity makes a man hard to fit into a particular 
place. It is better to take unshaped material and mold 
it to the proper form. 

Next comes the training of the individual. Here 
three things are to be demanded: first, thoroughness; 
second, promptness; third, appreciation. 

To be thorough is the basis of this training. It 
plays the same part in business as smooth, absolutely 
exact molding does in a machine. 

Here again is a reason for starting a man in at the 
bottom; he learns all the details about the business 

a chance to by working with them—and he is left 

Demonstrate long enough in one place so that he will 

learn these details. When a man is placed 


Ability 


in a department, he usually enters as a junior and 
passes through three grades of juniors before he be¬ 
comes a responsible head. As he learns he is advanced. 
If he qualifies, he is promoted to a senior—a grade 
filled only by those who have demonstrated absolutely 
their ability with us. Thus we put no part in our or- 


JOHN Y. FAR WELL, JR. 


73 


ganization that is likely to break or grind, unable to 
stand the pressure at some unforeseen point. 

To be prompt is the next essential. Many people 
will wonder at this, but here the analogy to the machine 
is especially close. What would be the value of the 
machine if one wheel or even a bolt were missing for 
half an hour? The machine might work in a stumb¬ 
ling manner, but far under its normal efficiency. So in 
an institution like ours the individuals should be at 
their various posts ready to do their duties, ready to 
carry along their part of the work. 

If one employee comes in at 8, another at 8 :10, and 
a third at 8 :15, the machine inevitably stumbles along, 
gets a false start—and thus forever destroys co-ordi¬ 
nation. 

By appreciation—the third point—I mean a feel¬ 
ing of the importance of the work which the man has 
in hand, of the responsibility to do the best he can for 
the house. 

Our aim is always to place an employee where he 
best fits and then give him full responsibility. He must 
appreciate this opportunity—he must appreciate that 
one part of the work rests absolutely with him. 

It is false in training employees to put too much 
emphasis upon the fact that they are unrelated indi¬ 
viduals ; they should also be taught that they are parts 
of a great whole. The employee must know and feel 
that he is with the house for the good of the house; 
that every duty, every difficulty, every exaction is for 
its service; that the organization is bigger than the 
individual units. If this understanding is established, 
and if at the same time a sympathy with the policy of 
the house is aroused in the employee, a real beginning 
for co-ordinate service has been started. 


74 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


To co-ordinate the various parts of this organism 
to run the business is the work of the executive at the 
head; and he must be the man who generates the 
power—the spirit of enthusiasm which pushes a busi¬ 
ness ahead. 

To make a group of department managers, such as 
the thirty-five we have, work together, the executive 

How Contact must use a tangible system. We have an 
With Executive informal trade committee which meets as 
is Maintained required for the consideration of matters 

of vital interest, also three merchandise directors who 
are experts in sections. The executive head also aims 
to talk and consult with the merchandise directors and 
with the department managers individually at frequent 
intervals. The policy, aims and methods of the house 
are thus transmitted from the executive heaci to the 
department manager, from him to the sub-manager, 
through him to the seniors, and then to the juniors in 
the service. The power flows without waste from the 
generator to the uttermost parts of the machine. 

The handling of the outside parts of this organiza¬ 
tion, the traveling men, who come in contact with the 
public, is the most difficult matter. Our aim has always 
been to secure our salesmen either from our own ranks, 
and thus be sure of having men who understand our 
policy, or from among retailers, and thus secure men 
who know the other side of the problem. 

In either case, they lack one-half of the training, 
and this must be instilled into them. Our salesmen 
come in much closer contact with the home office than 
in most houses, for the specific object of transmitting to 
them this spirit which I have described. 

It is the duty of the department manager to ex¬ 
plain to the salesmen the classes of goods and their 


JOHN V. FAR WELL, JR. 


75 


faults, to present to them the policy of the house, teach 
them our selling methods, and our methods of handling 
our customers, and imbue them with the spirit of co¬ 
ordination. The consequence is that when the sales¬ 
man starts out on the road he goes with the feeling 
that he is part of the house, that he must work for the 
good of the house. 

With the traveling force, it is especially important 
that close touch be kept; this can be done by means of 
reports which the salesman makes daily, semi-weekly 
and monthly. In a special book we have the complete 
details regarding each salesman—details regarding the 
man himself, regarding the business he does weekly, 
his aggregate sales, the cost, his expense, the exact 
profit. The record of every salesman can be put before 
the executive’s eye in a moment. 

The reports coming in from him are carefully con¬ 
sidered ; we allow him no doubt that we are watching 
him. If he is losing ground, the superintendent writes 
to him suggesting, encouraging, stimulating. If he 
shows an increase in his business, the appreciation of 
the house is made manifest. 

When the salesman makes his periodical visits to 
the home office he is not handled like an outsider; he 
is a part of us. A card is immediately sent to the sup¬ 
erintendent informing him that Mr. Blank has returned 
from his trip in Tennessee. He goes at once to the 
superintendent and they have a general talk on all 
matters relating to the business and the salesman’s 
spirit is strengthened as much as possible. If neces¬ 
sary, he sees some of the department managers, and 
the credit department. Before he can leave, his ticket 
must be checked by the superintendent, who gives him 
a * 4 clearance.” 


CHAPTER XIII 

THE MACHINERY OF HIRING MEN 


BY HERBERT J. HAPGOOD 

President, Hapgoods 

There are so many details connected with the work 
of man-hunting for business establishments that it 
could not be conducted without the most up-to-date 
business methods and appliances. Success consists in 
so systematizing its details that it will move forward 
rapidly and almost automatically. 

All large companies employing a considerable force 
of workers have a thorough organization devoted ex¬ 
clusively to the employment, promotion and discipline 
of help. At the head of this task is an officer on 
whose shoulders rests the responsibility of handling the 
labor of the house. He is supposed to keep himself 
well informed on all problems directly affecting labor, 
he must dictate the labor policy of the firm and serve 
as a court of last resort whenever labor troubles arise 
in the ranks of his workmen. Under him are the meh 
who devote themselves exclusively to the selection of 
employees and to their training, discipline, promotion 
and dismissal. If the establishment is a large one, it 
maintains a general resident employment agent, prob¬ 
ably, and several traveling employment agents. Then 
there is one man in each grand division of the business 
who gives himself wholly to this work, so far as his 
division is concerned. Thus the office force, the me- 

76 


HERBERT J. HAPGOOD 


77 


chanical force, the selling force, each has its special 
employment head. There is generally one man whose 
duty is to weed out undesirable material from the 
ranks of employees, to listen in detail to all complaints, 
to investigate them and, in general, to act as ‘‘trouble 
buffer” between the head of the employment organiza¬ 
tion of the house and the employees. 

The records of these bureaus, comprising applica¬ 
tion and history blanks, are described in the next 
chapter. 

When the establishment is not large enough to 
have a regular organized employment bureau such as 

How Agencies this > the employment agency may be called 
May Help the to its assistance. Probably no manufactur- 
Empioyer i n g or commerc j a i establishment in exist¬ 
ence keeps so minute and comprehensive a record as 
do the employment concerns, whose clients include 
concerns of varying descriptions and whose investi¬ 
gation of applicants covers every point of birth, ances¬ 
try and all other details having a possible bearing 
upon the character and work of each individual en¬ 
rolled. Because of the thoroughness of this research 
work many progressive commercial and industrial 
enterprises lean heavily upon the employment experts. 

In one way the employment expert’s business may 
be compared to that of a department store. His stock 
in trade is human ability, and includes men for every 
variety of high grade positions, from clerical employees 
to the high salaried specialists in some unusual line of 
business or technical work. No merchant handles a 
wider variety of goods. 

Whether he be a middleman acting as an employ¬ 
ment agency or the head of a corporation’s employing 
bureau, the employment expert must keep this stock 


78 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


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Form I; Abstract of a man’s experience and ability, filed by employment agency under every position he can fill 



HERBERT J. HAPGOOD 


79 


in trade in good shape—all lines well supplied and 
within easy reach. 

If the employment expert’s stock of men could be 
arranged under one roof, his business would be com¬ 
paratively simple. His difficulty lies in the fact that 
his stock is scattered all over the United States. The 
expert chemist, whom a New York City employer 
needs next week, may be at present employed in San 
Francisco, and the accountant who is the right man for 
a position in San Antonio, Texas, may now be working 
in Portland, Maine. The employment expert’s stock 
in trade cannot be arranged on shelves or stored in 
warehouses like ordinary merchandise, yet the ability 
of every man in it must be well known, and it must be 
possible to deliver him promptly when the opportunity 
arises. A thorough and absolutely accurate system of 
recording the ability, experience and whereabouts of 
these men is essential. 

When a call comes in for a man, there must be 
some method by which not only one but several right 
men for the place can be promptly located. The card 
system has proved the only means of keeping com¬ 
plete and easily accessible records. 

It must be made practically impossible to have a 
position go unfilled when there is a man on the lists 

.. exactly fitted for it. To avoid this, ab- 

uiassincanon # # # 

According to stracts of the man’s experience and ability 

Experience are mac j e ou ^ on car ds (Form I), and these 
cards are classified and sub-classified according to 
every position he is qualified to fill and also according 
to his experience, amount of salary and location de¬ 
sired. Very often it requires over fifty cards to place 
the record of one man properly on file in all the 
employment expert’s offices. 


80 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


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Form II: The record made of positions to be filled, classified according to the nature of the position 





HERBERT J. HAPGOOD 


81 


This system works out very well and there is small 
chance of overlooking a man. For example, if a $1,200 
paint salesman, familiar with the Ohio territory, is 
wanted, he can be located in three different files: 
among the salesmen graded according to salary, accord¬ 
ing to the line sold, and according to the territory with 
which they are familiar. 

These cards are in different colors, the colors cor¬ 
responding to the applicant’s degree of proficiency. 
For instance, this salesman is most proficient in selling 
paint—the card which goes into the paint file is white; 
this is called the “master card.” He also has sold 
hardware, but not so well; for this he gets a buff card 
in the hardware file, bearing the same information. He 
can sell woodenware, too; name on a pink card goes 
under the woodenware classification. 

When the employment expert, therefore, is seek¬ 
ing a man to fill a position, the very color of the cards 
will tell him the comparative proficiency of various 
men in the files. 

A record of positions to be filled is kept in a sim¬ 
ilar way. Complete information concerning the place, 
with address of firm, amount of salary, time when the 
applicant should be sent for interview, or abstract of 
his qualifications given, and other details are placed 
on a blue card (Form II), on the back of which the 
department having charge of this particular position 
can keep a record of the men put in touch with it. 
Pink duplicates of this card are made for the informa¬ 
tion of other departments and offices. Changes of ad¬ 
dress are carefully noted and the cards are removed 
when positions are filled or men placed. 


CHAPTER XIV 


HANDLING APPLICATION AND HISTORY 

RECORDS 

BY O. N. MANNERS 

The reserve force of a business organization should 
always include a human element as well as reserve 
capital and reserve material. When some part of a 
machine breaks or wears out, the machinist has access 
to his list of duplicate parts in order to replace it at 
once. When supplies are needed, the purchasing agent 
consults his file of quotations from various firms. But 
when a man leaves the establishment, it is often the 
case that the force is disorganized and work is delayed, 
while a search is being made for someone to fill the 
vacancy. It is obviously impossible as well as imprac¬ 
ticable and unnecessary to make any endeavor to keep 
in the employ of the company a man capable of step¬ 
ping into the place of each employee. 

How shall a house guard itself against vacancies 
in its working force, so that whenever a man leaves 
or is promoted his successor may be readily secured ? 

Many establishments, in their efforts to solve this 
problem, have collected lists of available employees, 
giving the name and address, qualifications and present 
employment of each man who has at any time made 
application for employment or has been recommended 
to officers of the company. These records are more 
specialized than can be obtained from an employment 

82 


0. N. MANNERS 


83 


agency, by the methods described in the preceding 
chapter. 

The first step in the process of compiling the list 
is to secure the necessary information regarding the 

Blanks for Data ex P erience and personal history of appli- 
Regarding cants. For this purpose an application 
Applicants blank is provided, having spaces for more 

or less complete data as the nature of the service 
makes advisable. Day laborers are often hired 
without inquiry into their past record, and without 
even verifying the name and address which they 
claim. When employees are to do responsible work or 
represent the company in its relations with the public, 
a more careful inquiry is made. 

The application form explained here is that of a 
railway or street car company and is typical of the 
blanks provided for applicants for responsible positions 
in any industry. Stringent mental and physical 
standards are required of applicants. The applicant 
for a position in a train or car service must on most 
lines be within certain age limits. He must be neat, 
fairly intelligent, sound in body and mind, not less 
than five feet four inches tall if he would be a motor- 
man or a brakeman; and, finally, he must be able to 
read and write English and do simple arithmetic. 

The man who meets these general requirements 
fills out an application blank (Form I) on wTiich, in 
addition to his age, place of birth, condition of health 
and habits as regards the use of liquors, he states his 
willingness to obey the company’s rules and regula¬ 
tions, to do all in his power to further the company’s 
interests and to conduct himself obediently and re¬ 
spectfully toward his superior officers and courteously 
toward the patrons of the road. If he has been pre- 


84 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


viously employed, he must state where, when and by 
whom. In addition he must give several references, 
and then he must swear to the truthfulness of his state¬ 
ments before a justice of the peace. The data re¬ 
corded on these blanks will vary with the line of busi¬ 
ness, but this form is the most satisfactory. 

From these application blanks giving whatever 
information the employing concern requires, the office 

Cross indexed recor( ^ s °f available employees are made 
Cards Kept out. They are composed chiefly of cross¬ 
in office indexed card files, one set being arranged 

alphabetically by names, and the other by trades or 
lines of work. 

For the alphabetical file, a white card is used 
(Form II), with spaces for the necessary personal notes 
relating to the man whose name heads the card. When 
application is first made, the three top lines of the 
white card are used; they designate the name, address 
and qualifications. At the time this card is made out 
the first two lines of a card for the cross-file (Form III), 
are also filled in. This card names the position first and 
the man second, and naturally is the important card 
when a man is wanted for certain work, as no names 
have to be kept in mind. 

The cross-file cards, which are buff colored, bear 
only two other records besides the ones referred to. 
These records are filled in after the applicant becomes 
an employee. One line is for the occupation and name, 
and the next two lines are for the change in wages, the 
first of these lines giving the date of change and the 
second the rate. In addition to these records, the white 
card gives the date the man entered the employ of the 
company, the rate at which he started, the time he quP 
and the reason, and other remarks. 


O. N. MANNERS 


85 



Form I: Application blank which is filled out by persons seeking employment 
with a street railway company, typical of the blanks used in all cases where 
extended information is desired. This provides blanks for entry of the appli¬ 
cant’s age, birthplace, family, present and past addresses, record of previous 
employment covering a period of five years and the names of persons referred 
to for testimonials regarding character 
















































































86 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


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0. N. MANNERS 


87 


From the fact that the buff card contains none of 
these closing records, it might seem that a discharged 
employee could return at some future time and secure 
a position. But as soon as his name is found on the 
buff card, the fact that he has been either on the wait¬ 
ing list or a former employee is apparent, and refer¬ 
ence is at once made to the white card, where all the 
details are found. 

Such lists of available labor are often of service 
in cases where men are needed for temporary work. 
Mercantile houses especially find extra employees a 
necessity in their rush seasons. 

To meet the unusual demands for salesmen during 
the holiday seasons, the retail stores keep a list of 

Keeping Lists former and prospective employees on 
of Salesmen for which they call as occasion demands. The 
Rush Seasons nu mber of supplementary employees en¬ 
gaged during the Christmas and Easter seasons, in the 
large department stores, sometimes runs into hundreds 
and thousands. Recourse is sometimes made to the 
advertising columns of the daily papers, but the better 
quality of such service is usually secured through the 
agencies of these lists. 

One of the large department stores has a list made 
up of former employees who have for personal reasons 
left the store, but who will come back at rush times; 
persons who have been ‘‘laid off”; such applicants as 
have not been accepted, but whose records are marked 
acceptable; besides the names of such as have ex¬ 
pressed a willingness to do this temporary work. All 
these names, with full addresses and complete descrip¬ 
tions, are filed on cards in an emergency list. 

Often such supplementary lists of employees are 
called upon regularly at short intervals. In stores 


88 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 



Form IV: Personal record of employee giving changes in service and merit or demerit marks, with details regarding them 

















































0. N. MANNERS 


89 


whose Saturday afternoons and evenings exceed the 
sales of the three or four days preceding, a supple¬ 
mentary force of employees is maintained, some of 
whom are clerks with free Saturday afternoons and 
evenings. Their names are entered on the payroll. 

Great as is the interest in a man’s history when 
he is an applicant for work, the importance of know- 

How to Record in £ and record i n g his efficiency after he 
Employees’ enters the employ of the company is 

Conduct even g rea t er> For ^ suc h records the 

officials of the company who do not come into per¬ 
sonal contact with him may judge of his eligibility for 
promotion or of the desirability of discharging him. 

Personal records of employees have been more 
highly developed by public service corporations than 
by other business organizations, as they have two 
sources for obtaining reports on a man’s ability and 
conduct: the public in general, and their own officials 
in particular. 

“Discipline by record” is practically a bookkeep¬ 
ing account between the employer and the employee. 
On one side of the sheet is a credit account, on which 
are recorded his credit marks. On the other side is 

the debit account, on which are recorded his demerits. 

/ 

The balance shows in figures the stability of the em¬ 
ployee’s position with the company. 

Every employee is assumed to be fallible and sub¬ 
ject to human frailties. He is also assumed to be pos¬ 
sessed of initiative and judgment. By this code of 
discipline, his merits and deficiencies are recorded in 
parallel columns, and one is made to balance the other. 

When each man enters the employ of the company, 
he is assumed to be efficient until he proves himself 
otherwise and an arbitrary number of merit marks, 


90 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


generally one hundred, are placed to his credit. Upon 
these he may draw just as he draws upon money de¬ 
posited in the bank. As infringements of discipline 
occur, this number is decreased in proportion to the 
seriousness of the offense. In the same way, good con¬ 
duct, judgment and loyalty are rewarded by marks of 
merit which counteract the debit marks. The em¬ 
ployee’s account is kept up ready for reference just 
as his bank account is kept, and if he overdraws his 
account in either case, the result is the same—his con¬ 
nection with that institution is severed. 

The immediate superior of an employee determines 
the number of demerit marks which he considers the 
accused should receive. In case the matter is of im¬ 
portance, he may in turn refer his decision to his im¬ 
mediate superior. When this number is fixed, the 
official notifies the employee by letter that he has been 
subjected to discipline and gives him the opportunity 
to defend himself by personal explanations and by 
witnesses who are familiar with the case before the 
record is made permanent. When the penalty is in¬ 
flicted, the employee is notified of his record to date. 
No employee, however, is allowed to see the record of 
any other employee without written permission. 

These personal records of the employees are kept 
in loose leaf volumes (Form IV), with pages ap¬ 
proximately 11 by 15 inches, closely ruled. A page is 
reserved for each man. The first entry is that of the 
name, address, record number, date and place of birth, 
date of appointment, and the capacity in which he 
serves. Notations are then made in chronological order 
of any facts which are reported regarding this em¬ 
ployee’s fidelity: the violations of which he may be 
guilty; his regularity and punctuality; and complaints 


0. N. MANNERS 


91 


and commendations made by the officials of the com¬ 
pany or received from outside sources. There are 
also recorded whatever disciplinary measures are 
adopted, the date of liis promotion, or the reverse, and 
any information which throws light, either directly or 
indirectly, upon the man’s habits, personal conduct and 
efficiency. 

On the principle that occasional brilliant service 
should not be the only basis for winning marks of 
merit, and that faithful but undistinguished service is 
worth reward, the following system of cancellation of 
demerit marks has been adopted: 

A clear record for one year cancels six demerits. 

A clear record for two consecutive years cancels 
eighteen demerits. 

A clear record for three consecutive years cancels 
forty demerits. 

A clear record for four consecutive years cancels 
seventy-five demerits. 

A clear record for five consecutive years equals a 
clear record; that is, all demerit marks are canceled. 

It is from eligible men as shown by this record that 
the higher positions are filled, in preference to choos¬ 
ing outsiders for such vacancies. Whenever vacancies 
occur, the fact is made public on the bulletin board so 
that candidates may have an opportunity to file their 
applications. In determining their fitness for the posi¬ 
tion involved, their records are carefully examined. 


CHAPTER XV 

TIMEKEEPING AND PAYROLL SYSTEMS 

BY JAMES GERMAIN 

The problem of keeping the time of employees and 
making out their payroll is difficult in proportion to the 
size of the working force. A part of the regular 
duties of the accounting department in small establish¬ 
ments, it becomes a task requiring the attention of a 
special corps of clerks in large factories and great re¬ 
tail stores. In many mercantile houses the problem 
is simplified by paying every two weeks. Factory 
workers, however, usually receive their wages every 
week, and the task of computing the amounts is compli¬ 
cated by the elements of overtime and piece work. 

In large establishments, the offices of timekeeper 
and paymaster are distinct. Under such a system, the 
duties of the timekeeper include: first, obtaining data 
of employees’ time; second, recording the data; third, 
making up a time-roll for the paymaster. Besides 
this, he should maintain an alphabetical index of em¬ 
ployees, record entries, releases, and transfers between 
departments, and control tardiness and absence. 

The time data required depends on the use to 
which it will be put. In some eases, especially in fac¬ 
tories, it is necessary to know what the employee has 
done in the time he has worked, and his time is charged 
accordingly. Timekeeping, in this sense, is more prop¬ 
erly involved in costkeeping. In the majority of cases, 

92 


JAMES GERMAIN 


93 


and in this group offices and mercantile houses are 
included, the total number of hours or of days worked 
from one pay day to the next is all that is essential; 
and this is determined by recording daily the time 
of arrival and departure. For obtaining such data, the 
systems best suited for use in a large establishment 
are the check and the clock systems. 

In the former, brass checks or cards are given to 
the employees. The metal checks are found more 

Keeping Time satisfactory than cards in manufacturing 
by individual plants, as they are not liable to be dam- 
Checks aged or soiled. The checks are numbered 

consecutively and hang on a board in the timekeeper’s 
office. Each workman on entering the building is given 
the check which bears his number. Reference to the 
unclaimed checks will therefore show the absentees 
or the tardy workmen. On leaving the building at 
noon or at night the employee turns in his check, the 
time is noted by the timekeeper on a daily report, and 
the check is hung in place until the beginning of the 
next day’s work. 

The principal objection to this system is that it is 
not automatic, and clerical errors may creep in. The 
permanent record is made by the timekeeper, and be¬ 
yond his entry there is no record to fall back on. 

The individual card system is used in many offices 
and stores. Under this system, each employee is given 
a time card (Form I), bearing his name and depart¬ 
ment, which he carries with him, and which contains 
blanks for six days’ records. His ticket is punched 
in the morning when he comes to work, at noon when 
he goes to and returns from lunch, and at night when 
he leaves. In some establishments the rules make it 
unnecessary to punch the card when he leaves at noon, 


94 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


since each employee is assigned a certain time as his 
lunch hour and cannot leave until his time. If a 
clerk is compelled to work over the hour, he receives 
an extension slip from his department head indicat¬ 
ing his overtime, and he is allowed an equal time be¬ 
yond his regular hour. 

If employees are late, they have a large square 
hole—very conspicuous—punched in their tickets, in- 



Form I: Time ticket, renewed each week, on which the employee’s punctuality 
or tardiness is shown by punches in the squares representing each day 

stead of the usual small hole. Two of these square 
punches in a card means that it will be taken up and 
sent to the manager’s office, where the tardy employee 
must call for it. The very fact that he must show him¬ 
self to the manager and reach over his desk for the 
ticket, even though no word is said, makes a strong 
deterrent, and it also keeps the manager in touch 
with the weak members of the force. 








































JAMES GERMAIN 


95 


Employees must report to their department head 
on coming to work morning and noon. He keeps his 
own time sheet for all in his department. This he 
sends in to the auditor at the end of the week, and 
from it the payroll is made up. The employees’ tickets 
are also taken up weekly and new ones issued, and 
these two time records are checked against each other. 

The other method of recording time, the clock 
system, furnishes a permanent record, which, being 
The Clock automatic, is practically free from error. 
System of Time The employee’s number appears at the ex- 
Recording treme left of a recording roll inserted each 
day in the clock, and this number is followed consecu¬ 
tively by his morning entrance, noon departure, noon 
entrance and evening departure. There is space at 
the right for an entrance and a departure in case an 
employee returns to work in the evening. From this 
record the actual hours worked can be readily seen. 
The tapes are dated and filed in consecutive order, thus 
forming a permanent record by which any disputed 
question may be decided. 

To insure against dishonest registration the clocks 
must be under the eye of some trustworthy person. If 
located at a common entrance for all employees, the 
timekeeper or his assistant may watch them. 

Night watchmen or any other all-night employees 
register 4 ‘in” in the fourth column, because the clock 
is set for those leaving at that time, and the “out” 
registration in the morning will be in the first column 
on the next day’s tape for the same reason. 

If clocks are used, the data, although permanent, 
will hardly be in a concise shape for reference. Assum¬ 
ing that each employee has worked a full day, it is only 
necessary to record lost time and overtime to secure 


96 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 



NAME 


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Form II: An individual time card covering one year, showing overtime and 
absences by dates in each payroll period of one-half month 
























































































































JAMBS GERMAIN 


97 



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Form III: Report submitted to executive officers regarding an individual’s 
time, in order to secure action on allowance and deduction of lost time 

































































98 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


this result. A card which may be used for this purpose 
is shown in Form II. It serves to record the data 
regarding the time of one individual for one year. In 
this case the payroll is made up semi-monthly. The 
spaces for each half month are divided so that morn¬ 
ing records are separated from afternoon. Absence 
and tardiness are noted in the left hand column to indi¬ 
cate the morning, and in the right hand to indicate the 
afternoon. An entire day’s absence requires notation 
in both columns. Tardiness or early departure is noted 
in ink, giving date, hour, and “1” for late, or “d” for 
departure. 

Overtime is recorded on the same card, the figures 
being circled to indicate credit. While the timekeeper 
can vouch for the accuracy of records obtained during 
regular working hours, overtime registration may be 
inaccurate. For this reason each department head is 
required to report at the end of each week or half 
month the number of hours, together with the dates of 
overtime for each individual in his section. These are 
totaled and the individual totals are noted on each 
card. At the end of each period the total deductions 
are subtracted from the full time for the period and 
any overtime added. The result is noted in the space 
in the left hand column. 

The time cards are best filed according to check 
or clock numbers, and at the same time by depart- 

How individual men ^ s > as there is a given sequence of 
Record Num- check or clock numbers for each depart- 
bers are Kept me nt. It has been found advisable -to use 

clocks of 100 capacity in most cases, all numbered 
1-100, instead of in series, as the former method ob¬ 
viates the necessity of the employee remembering a 
large number. To prevent confusion between similar 


JAMES GERMAIN 


99 


numbers on the several clocks, each department has a 
distinctive number, which is coupled with the indi¬ 
vidual ’s number. Thus an employee in Department 14, 
whose clock number is 27, has the record number 1427. 

There are certain employees who are, by virtue 
of long service or of position, entitled to vacations and 

Provision Made to emer g enc y allowance in cases of sick- 
for Allowance ness. It becomes necessary to submit to 
of Time the execu ti ve officials a statement of the 

employee’s standing, so that allowance may be made 
with due regard for individual records. Form III il¬ 
lustrates a form of card used for this purpose. It 
presents a summary of the time of each individual, by 
weeks or half months, and is filled out by the* time¬ 
keeper and submitted to the proper executive, who 
indicates whether allowance or deduction is in order. 

In the first column at the left overtime is noted. 
Then follows the number of times tardy, total amount 
of tardiness, late arrival, early departure and total 
lost time. Each month the totals for the period are 
added to the previous totals, so that figures for any 
month comprise the total from January 1 to that date. 
Absence is recorded for each month separately and 
also by totals with small red figures to denote the 
amount allowed and deducted from January 1 to date, 
thus enabling the timekeeper to tell how much time has 
been allowed or deducted since January 1. 

With complete and accurate timekeeping systems 
in operation, the paymaster’s work becomes a problem 
of disbursement: how to distribute the wages in the 
easiest, quickest and safest manner. The essentials of 
a paying system are a paymaster’s list showing the 
amount due each employee, and a receipt to be signed 
by the man when he receives his envelope. 


100 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 



Form IV: The receipt issued to each employee for his signature and collected when the pay envelopes are distributed 





JAMES GERMAIN 

I 


101 


The payroll system of a well organized factory 
may be used as a typical example of the method used 
in establishments where a large number of men must 
be paid simultaneously. 

When the payroll has been calculated, each em¬ 
ployee’s pay is placed in a small envelope, on whose 

a Receipt f ace * s reC0I> ded his name, check number, 

Taken from and the amount of payment. These en- 

Each Employee velopes 

pass through the hands of three 
inspectors, each of whom counts the money to see that 
it corresponds to the amount indicated on the envelope, 
and if correct, places his O. K. under the figures. 

At five o’clock on the last working afternoon of 
the week the whistle of the plant is blown three times. 
This is the signal for every employee in the entire 
plant to stand at his working place. 

The foremen distribute the envelopes, as their 
acquaintance with the workmen expedites the distribu¬ 
tion and prevents errors. They pass through the 
rooms in pairs; one distributes the envelopes from a 
satchel, comparing the identification check number 
which each employee carries with the number on the 
envelope; the other carries a box in which the em¬ 
ployees deposit their receipts. 

These receipts (Form IV) have been previously 
distributed among the employees, filled out with the 
amount which the time records show to be due. If the 
employee accepts these figures as correct, he signs the 
receipt and gives it to the foreman in exchange for his 
envelope. If he believes a mistake has been made in 
figuring his wages, he takes the matter up with the 
foreman in order to have it corrected before the money 
is counted out. 


CHAPTER XVI 


PAYING LABOR FOR THE BEST RESULTS 

BY HUGO DIEMER 

Shop Systematizer, The Goodman Manufacturing Company 

Labor is the big variable item in the manu¬ 
facturer’s expenses. How he may get more work out of 
his men is the constant endeavor of the manager—for 
it is the straightest route to larger profits. 

The method of paying workmen has an appre¬ 
ciable influence on their output. Different methods get 
the best results under different conditions. The man¬ 
ager who figures out the method best fitted to his condi¬ 
tions shows the best results. 

Of the three possible methods of compensation— 
day work, piece work, and gain sharing method—the 
two latter will be the chief topics of consideration in 
this chapter. The day wage system as applied to man-, 
ufacturing plants is of,restricted use, being superior 
only in small shops or in establishments where the 
human labor element is controlled by the output of 
certain machines, the operator having no opportunity 
for initiative in making his services of greater value. 

A widespread impression prevails that the day 
wage is the only practicable one in work which re¬ 
quires great care, which cannot be hurried, which can¬ 
not be slighted. This assumes that if only given suffi¬ 
cient time the workman will be conscientious enough 
to do it thoroughly, and that the piece system or merit 

102 


HUGO DIEMER 


103 


system produces careless work. Over against this it 
should be pointed out that, when a considerable num¬ 
ber of men are employed on work in which quality or 
accuracy is vital, an inspection system must go hand 
in hand with any system of remuneration based on 
quantity of output. If the piece work or merit system 
is carried on with proper inspection with reference to 
quality, they will have no more and perhaps less 
trouble on account of quality than they used to have 
under the day wage system, since the men know that 
they dare not slight quality if they hope to gain the 
benefits of the merit wage. 

The principal danger in day wage lies in the ten¬ 
dency toward establishing a low dead level of -pro¬ 
duction. It is possible to remunerate in a day pay 
system the best workingman at a higher hourly rate 
than the average, but day pay does not furnish the 
stimulus for development of initiative or creative abil¬ 
ity which is presented by the gain sharing methods. 

The second class of remuneration—piece rate— 
will always be found most satisfactory where muscular 

Where Piece e ^ or i ; predominates or where a low grade of 
Work Rate intellect is used. There has been a tendency 
Can be Used j n man y shops to make use of piece rate 

with a guaranteed day rate. Under these conditions it 
might just as well not be used at all, because its very 
efficacy lies in the penalty to idlers of a low amount 
of day’s earnings for a poor day’s work. This is the 
only remedy for automatically taking care of the time- 
killer and inefficient workman. 

Piece rate is by far the best method of compensat¬ 
ing such labor as molding, foundry work, shoveling 
coal or dirt, unloading or wheeling pig iron, ore, bricks 
and similar lines. In work of this nature there is no 


104 EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 



Form I (large card): Work accomplished by piece worker. Form V (small card): Workman’s record, used in checking pay 
























































































HUGO DIEMER 


105 


danger of the overhead operating expense being 
unduly increased as the men’s productive work in¬ 
creases. Moreover, the man is responsible by the exer¬ 
cise of his own muscle and ingenuity for any increase 
in his output. Hence it is eminently fair that the 
laborer should be paid an increasing piece rate as his 
output, and consequently his value, increases. 

This method of piece work compensation has been 
designated as the differential piece rate and has been 
found very satisfactory. As an example of its opera¬ 
tion : a piece rate of twenty cents may be fixed on a 
certain product, provided the day’s output is ten or 
less; for a day’s output of from ten to fifteen pieces 
the rate may be made twenty-two and a half cents per 
piece; for more than fifteen pieces the rate would be 

twenty-five cents per piece. At first sight it would 
* 

appear that the employer would lose money by paying 
a higher rate as a man’s output increased. This would 
be the case in classes of work where general operating 
expense increases with increase of output. Where the 
mechanical operating expense does not so increase it 
must be remembered that as a man’s product per day 
increases he reduces the ratio between the general 
overhead of taxes, insurance, officers’ salaries, and so 
on, to productive labor cost, and it may be very profit¬ 
able to use the ‘ ‘ differential ” piece rate in such cases. 

The third general division is that of gain sharing, 
which is distinct from a system of dividing indiscrimi- 

The Varions na t e ly among all employees a part of the 
Forms of Gain net profits. The simplest gain sharing 
Sharing system is one in which a standard of out¬ 

put is established for certain departments and an 
amount of money is distributed proportionately to each 
man’s wages among all employees in that department 


106 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


for any bettering of the standard. This method is ap¬ 
plicable to certain kinds of work where a number of 
men work jointly in accomplishing a given result and 
where it is difficult to draw the line as to any par¬ 
ticular employee’s accomplishment. An immediate modi¬ 
fication of this is the fixing of a standard day’s output 
for a workman and a reward for him if he exceeds it. 

The best known and most widely used gain shar¬ 
ing system is the one usually called the “ premium 
system.” Its chief features are the allowing of h 
definite number of hours to do a certain job. Of any 
time the workman saves over that, he gets one-half 
the benefit. The majority of manufacturers use the 
fifty per cent gain sharing basis in all cases. 

Modifications of the premium system have been 
devised which provide for a bonus or premium wage 
for small time reductions and a smaller increase of 
wages for large time reductions. One of these systems 
pays ten per cent increase of wages for a ten per cent 
reduction in time, twenty per cent increase of wages 
for twenty per cent reduction in time of performing 
the process, and so on. 

The danger of workmen’s doing the work in too 
low a time is not the most prevalent difficulty in con¬ 
nection with the merit wage systems. The more fre¬ 
quent condition is one of general apathy or indiffer¬ 
ence to avail themselves of the advantages offered and 
to have the time linger wuthin the ten and twenty per 

i 

cent reduction area. A knowledge of the average time 
of doing work which is the custom in any particular 
shop is far more prevalent among workingmen than is 
generally supposed. In some shops unless a very strong 
inducement is made it will be very hard to secure the 
decided time reductions which are necessary to keep 


HUGO DIEMER 


107 


up with the times. In such eases it has been found 
advisable to offer an increase in wages of a certain per 
cent for all work done within a new time standard. 

While engaged in a shop using this method of com¬ 
pensation I found that the method was good to only a 
Combining certain limit. It did result in a consider- 
Bonus with In- able proportion of the men doing the work 
creased Wage w fthi n the new time standards. However, 

there were not time reductions below the standard 
even on jobs that covered a period of weeks. This was 
natural, as no further inducement was offered for re¬ 
duction of time below the new standard, hence I com¬ 
bined with this twenty per cent bonus scheme the 
fifty per cent premium method. For instance, if a man 
employed at twenty cents an hour brings out success¬ 
fully in ten hours a job on which the standard time was 
fixed at twelve hours, he receives fifty per cent of the 
saving or twenty cents extra pay in addition to receiv¬ 
ing an increased wage rate of twenty-four cents an 
hour for all work successfully done. 

Some shops have preferred to fix a money price 
for the accomplishment of certain work rather than 
a time value. Their reason for this is to prevent cer¬ 
tain classes of work costing them too much money 
when this work is undertaken by a high priced man. 
For instance, if under the premium system a time limit 
of ten hours were put on a job and a thirty cent man 
did the job in six hours, the cost of the work to the 
company would be six hours at thirty cents plus four 
hours at fifteen cents or $2.40. On the other hand, if 
a twenty-five cents an hour man had accomplished the 
work in the same time, the cost of the job would have 
been six hours at twenty-five cents plus four hours at 
twelve and a half cents or $2.00. Now the company 


108 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 






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PAY ROLL RECORD & RECORD OF EFFICIENCY 


HUGO DIEMER 


109 



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Form IV: Report of a week’s work which goes to the employee with his pay envelope: a duplicate is filed in the office 
















































HUGO DIEMER 


111 


might find that it could not afford to have the piece of 
work cost in flat labor more than $2.25. The gain shar¬ 
ing would be one of money saved the company. This 
is really a more equitable basis than the hourly plan, 
inasmuch as the high priced man has his higher hourly 
rate which guarantees his day pay and he should neces¬ 
sarily have to exert himself more by the use of either 
his ingenuity or muscles if he expects to get a higher 
bonus or premium than his fellow craftsman working 
at a lower rate. 

The system required for keeping track of a piece 
work payroll will involve registering by means of a 
time clock, and a record of pieces of work units ac¬ 
complished (Form I), kept by workers or clerks, all 
involving statistical methods practically the same as 
for timekeeping in connection with day work methods. 

For a premium or gain sharing wage scheme these 
same methods are used and in addition to the regular 
payroll, there will have to be a system of postings for 
the premium or bonus payroll. The cost accounting 
system must also be modified to permit of proper allot¬ 
ment of the bonus money so as to show true cost. 

From the weekly sheet (Form II), after compari¬ 
son of the figures with the accepted standard, the time 
is assembled to a card (Form III), on which is also fig¬ 
ured the premium payroll in a case where payment is 
made once every four weeks. The same data can be 
also collected to a weekly slip (Form IV). The weekly 
slip is written out in duplicate, one copy going to the 
man with his envelope of premium money, the other 
being filed in a loose leaf binder under the man’s name. 

With either of the above forms, a separate slip 
(Form V) may serve as a notification and record for 
the workman which fie uses in checking his pay. 







BOOK II 

THE EMPLOYEE 


113 







CHAPTER XVII 

CHOOSING AN EMPLOYER 

BY H. A. WORMAN 

Former Manager Employment Department, National Cash Regis¬ 
ter Company 

Every worker is in business for himself—his brain, 
his capacity for work is the thing he has to sell. There¬ 
fore he should take it to the best market. But like 
every other producer or merchant, he courts failure if 
he relies wholly on a temporary market for his services. 
He must look ahead—and plan for his middle age, 
when his adaptability to strange conditions will have 
vanished and his lack of special skill in some calling 
will be a handicap no employer will overlook. 

Choose your employer with thrice the care he 
shows in selecting the men who work for him. Control 
of raw materials, automatic machinery, patents or the 
market for his product may insure him profits even 
though he neglect that vital element in his business— 
the quality and efficiency of his force. But the em¬ 
ployee, when he takes a position in office or factory, 
puts everything he is and has into the venture. He 
gives his time, his service, his experience, in return for 
a fixed wage. He gives more, however. He surrenders 
his individuality, his reputation, his capacity for 
growth—in one word, his business future—into the 
keeping of the organization he joins. 

If the work and associations are such as to thwart 
his development; if the policy and methods of the house 

115 


116 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


are slipshod, unprogressive or widely at variance with 
the accepted usages of successful concerns; if perma¬ 
nency of employment depends on the whim or preju¬ 
dices of the “men higher up”; if the chances of ad¬ 
vancement, as exhibited by the experience of men 
already employed, do not seem good—the intelligent, 
capable, ambitious man will do well to ignore any tem¬ 
porary advantage in the way of increased compensa¬ 
tion and cast about for the field he is fitted for, the 
field where he will be able to turn his individual equip¬ 
ment to the best account. 

As it is business suicide for a manufacturer to 
sacrifice quality of his goods to immediate profits, the 
employee who takes a job which cramps or cripples his 
development or trains him to unsound methods is driv¬ 
ing straight toward personal bankruptcy in the years 
after thirty-five. If he finds it necessary to take a 
bread-and-butter place, his first concern must be to 
“make good” in it, that he may use it as footing for a 
leap to something affording wider scope to his powers 
and therefore better compensation—either inside the 
organization which has given him refuge or in another 
house where congenial work or opportunity for ad¬ 
vancement is offered. 

All employees fall into two classes—the job-hunter 
and the man who has a definite, marketable service to 

Job-Hunters se ^ or an ex P^ e ^ purpose in seeking the 
and Trained place he desires. In this day of trade schools 
Workers and business colleges, of good technical 

courses taught by mail or in night classes in every com¬ 
mercial and industrial center, there is little excuse for 
a man or boy of average mentality remaining long in 
the first category. If he does, his mediocrity and lack 
of ambition are patent and the blame is all his own. 


II. A. WORMAN 


117 


Yet the untrained or half-trained worker, the man who 
is willing to do anything in any factory or office, forms 
an overwhelming majority of the legions which drift 
into and out of the large industrial organizations year 
after year. 

The boy who hasn’t decided that he wants to 
‘‘learn a trade” before he is twenty-one, seldom proves 
profitable as an apprentice. His dearth of intelligence 
or concentration is proved by his failure to discover and 
solve his personal problem sooner. It needs tenacity 
of purpose, also, for a man to stick to apprentice tasks 
at boys’ wages until he is twenty-four or twenty-five. 
Therefore in most factories, where apprenticeships are 
limited in number, they are assigned to lads under nine¬ 
teen, and the grown man has little chance of securing 
one. For the same reason, the office man of twenty- 
five, who has no special skill or service to offer, fixes 
his status as a clerk at hiring and gets little encour¬ 
agement or aid in his effort to master one of the office 
trades. 

Don’t be a job-hunter, therefore. Whether you 
have had training or not, study yourself before you 

Choosing a see k employment. Sum up your qualifi- 
Definite Line cations for business, your experience, your 
of Work tastes or natural bent. Then select the 

class of work which appeals to you as promising the 
best future, determine the type of business or factory in 
which your natural or acquired equipment will carry 
your furthest, and choose the firm or group of firms 
which will give you, as nearly as you can learn, the 
congenial work and surroundings, besides opportunity 
to grow and advance. 

Take stock of the firm you have finally settled on 
as minutely as you inventoried your personal qualifica- 


118 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


tions. These last are the goods you take to market, 
so make sure that a market exists for them and plan 
your campaign as a salesman plans his approach to a 
customer. Talk to men in the employ of the company; 
find out whether they are satisfied or discontented with 
its methods, its wages, their work, their chances of 
promotion and working conditions. Talk to members 
of the department or division you want to enter; get a 
line on the methods used, the personality of the foremen 
or heads, their willingness to encourage and help the 
men under them. 

The company, when you make application for a 
place, is going to look you up from every possible view¬ 
point, cross-examine you, catechise your references, 
weigh your manner of speech, your clothes, your habits, 
as well as the knowledge and capacity you offer them. 
Take a page from their book of tactics, therefore. 
They will spend a half hour, perhaps more, in an effort 
to size you up in relation to their organization. But 
the connection means so much more to you, the new job 
is going to promote or stunt your growth and the repu¬ 
tation of the concern is so certain to reflect credit or 
discredit on your own record, that it is worth your while 
to devote a couple of days to learning what kind of 
company it is, how it is regarded by its own employees 
and other houses, and what your personal chance in the 
organization will amount to. 

This advice is intended primarily for men old 
enough to know their own minds, to estimate their 
own abilities, to examine the conditions which will 
make for their success or failure in the organization 
they propose to enter. For the boy, such deliberate 
choice is not always possible, nor is it so important, 
save that the company’s standing be above par and 


H. A. WORMAN 


119 


that its methods are the approved methods of modern 
business. The boy with the greater education—the 
high school graduate, for instance—inclines naturally 
toward office work, while the lad who has only finished 
grammar school is limited, unless of unusual ability, 
to the factory division. 

In the end, however, the mental make-up of the 
youth should dictate the line he is to follow. The boy 
who likes details, who does not find routine tasks hum¬ 
drum and irksome, who experiences physical discomfort 
in the dirt and grime of the shop or lacks the bodily 
strength to satisfy the requirements in the factory, is 
marked for the office division, just as certainly as .the 
robust youngster with a motor temperament, who likes 
to make things with his hands and yawns over endless 
repetition of the same clerical process, will find his final 
vocation in the manufacturing end of the business. 

Whichever your type or inclination, you will prob¬ 
ably begin as a messenger. You may ask for a place 

The Scarcity as a PP ren ti ce , but apprenticeships are re- 
of Shop Ap- garded as prizes in most factories, and you 
prenticeships ma y miss it altogether getting only the 

opportunity to master some of the simpler machines and 
so get your first advance to the plane of “handy man.” 
Or you may, as you grow familiar with labor in the 
concrete, discover that office work appeals more to 
' you and ultimately range yourself in that division, 
while the office messenger in the course of his trips 
through the making departments is given the impulse 
toward mechanical employment. 

Taking whatever is offered you, it is your business 
to discover the work which appeals to you or promises 
advancement, and then fit yourself during work hours 
or outside to take the better place. The same rule 


120 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


holds, indeed, for any employee who has ambitions be¬ 
yond the service he renders day by day. Take the job 
that is available or for which you are equipped—then 
deliberately study the opportunities in other lines, in¬ 
side or outside the organization, and fit yourself to per¬ 
form its functions before you ask for it. 

What are the considerations, then, which count in 
seeking a job ? 

First, the general reputation and methods of the 
house. Will you grow by reason of your connection 
with it and find your services in demand by other con¬ 
cerns ? Or will you fall into careless ways of perform¬ 
ing your duties, grow accustomed to extravagances of 
time or money, and discover later that your experience 
in the establishment has not added to vour value in 
other employers’ eyes? 

By the average mentality of the whole organiza¬ 
tion, also, the individual employee is judged, while the 
congeniality of his work and surroundings will be indi¬ 
cated by the skill and personal qualities of the mem¬ 
bers of his own office or factory craft. 

Consider also the treatment of employees by the 
house; the average length of service for men in your 
line, since this indicates the probable duration of your 
own employment. It may be “hard to hold a job” or 
the nature of the work, the pace required of men, or the 
company’s attitude toward its workers may drive men 
of skill and sensitiveness away. The complement of 
these conditions is the liberality or niggardliness of the 
house in the matter of salaries or wages. Size up the 
work and decide whether you can earn a fair wage, 
whether the service demanded for a given salary will 
tax your strength or employ too many of your evenings 
in unpaid overtime. 


H. A. WORMAN 


121 


The repute and persorfijity of the man who will 
be your boss are also important factors. He represents 

study of the com P an y; his methods must be your 

Personality methods—his willingness to let men ad- 
of Employer vance, to help them to learn the business, 
to transfer them to other departments when the chance 
of promotion comes, will be all-powerful in determining 
whether you are to remain stationary or make personal 
progress. His knowledge of the business and of your 
particular specialty are vital, since the more he knows, 
the broader his gauge and the greater his readiness to 
help you up a step by giving you responsibilities as 
well as instruction. His temper, habits, spirit of help¬ 
fulness, regard for the men under him, will go far 
toward defining your limit of development and ad¬ 
vancement. 

Keep out of the companies—if you have any large 
ambitions—where the higher executives owe their 
places to family ties. Not only do they block advance¬ 
ment for men from the ranks, but their methods of 
doing business are frequently unsound and the com¬ 
panies themselves are on the down grade. Having 
been “taken care of” themselves, they are likely to 
carry the same principles into effect by giving prefer¬ 
ence to their relatives or personal friends when de¬ 
sirable places become vacant. 

Look out for the concerns which “squeeze the 
orange,” hiring men of admitted capacity in some 
special field with the idea of having them perfect an 
organization in some weak department, recast the com¬ 
pany’s methods or train men from the ranks. Then, 
their first enthusiasm gone, the machine running 
smoothly, or assistants ready to take charge, the im¬ 
ported specialist is given choice between a lowered 


122 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


salary or dismissal. Houses of the first rank rarely 
resort to such unfair and dishonest tactics, but the point 
is worth remembering for the reason that examples 
could be quoted of this indefensible practice. 

In determining these points, try to get at the inside 
conditions in the organization, not only of the general 
factory or office machine, but especially of the situation 
in the department to which you wish to be assigned. 

Steady employment, fair compensation and reason¬ 
able working conditions are the things every employee 
should receive. To make sure of them, you should 
determine whether they exist in the house you would 
hire yourself to before presenting yourself to the em¬ 
ployment agent. If you rush blindly into an organi¬ 
zation, only to discover that you cannot be content with 
the place you have taken or the opportunities within 
reach, the wisest course you can pursue is to look for 
another position immediately, and restrain meanwhile 
any temptation to reform the company’s methods or to 
“knock.” “Get out or get in line” sums up a volume 
of wisdom for the employee in a single phrase. 


CHAPTER XVIII 


THE ESSENTIALS OF PERSONAL SALESMAN¬ 
SHIP 

BY H. A. WORMAN 

Former Manager Employment Department , National Cash Regis¬ 
ter Company 

To the employee, every effort a manufacturer or 
merchant makes to advertise his want of men affords 
an extra chance of securing the place best fitted to 
him. Read the “help wanted” advertisements in the 
daily papers, therefore, and study those which appear 
in the trade weeklies. Don’t despise the “blind adver¬ 
tisement” which bears no signature; the firm which 
pays out money on the chance of receiving applications 
from skilled workers means business, and there is a 
good reason for its aversion to public announcement 
of a shortage of men. 

In reading these advertisements, study the speci¬ 
fications, learn exactly what the employer wants and 
offer it to him in your application, remembering that 
unless you impress him immediately, your only chance 
is lost. If you consult the trade papers, consult them 
on the first day they are published—a hundred other 
men may be looking for just the sort of berth you covet 

If you can’t play this waiting game, and decide to 
advertise on your own account, choose the newspaper 
which carries the greatest number of advertisements 
for men in lines allied to your own. Usually there is 
one organ which is strongest on office men, another on 

123 


124 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


factory workers. If yon get no results from three or 
four insertions, a dozen will probably do yon no more 
good. 

'Certain cities have newspapers which have estab¬ 
lished “want ad” markets—in other towns your ex- 
How to Ad penditure will bring no results, for em- 
vertise for ployers must have the habit of referring 

a Position to the eo i umns your advertisement ap¬ 

pears in or it will never catch their eyes. Make your 
advertisement as clear, snappy, interesting as the facts 
will allow, using care to offer no qualities or experience 
which you can not actually supply. Take your adver¬ 
tisement to the newspaper office and get one of the 
clerks to help you frame up a display which will dif¬ 
ferentiate it from similar advertisements—the clerk or 
mechanic who suggests individuality in an advertise¬ 
ment is certain to strike an employer as worth culti¬ 
vating, because of his intelligence. 

Another, and a neglected means of getting in touch 
with employers is by means of the news columns of daily 
and trade papers. Read the latter carefully for en¬ 
largement of existing plants or establishment of new 
ones, unusual sales or items touching overtime work. 
These are indications of conditions demanding new 
workers. Write immediately to the superintendent or 
employment man—he may need just your type of 
worker. 

If you are a skilled man, either in office or factory, 
your first application will probably be by letter. The 
majority of houses prefer to weed out their applicants— 
save common laborers—in this fashion, and thus re¬ 
duce the demands on the employment agent’s time. If, 
however, application by letter is not specified, and you 
are confident that you can make a better impression by 


H. A. WORJVIAN 


125 


a personal interview, take the easiest or most familiar 
method of approach. 

When you write a letter, make it clear, specific and 
as brief as you can without omitting any vital detail. 
Writing Tell w ^ a t kind of work you want, give the 

Letters of details of your education, training and 
Application experience, your age, whether married or 

single, the reason why you want a change of employ¬ 
ment or why you have no place at present. Give your¬ 
self full face value, but don’t pretend to knowledge 
or skill you do not possess. Every firm worth work¬ 
ing for will give a new man time to learn the ways of 
the house and to make good in his new place, but pre¬ 
tense of any sort will be quickly detected and punished. 

If the lowest figure for which a man will work is 
demanded, it may be necessary to name your minimum, 
though this is poor salesmanship if it can possibly be 
avoided. Ask for a personal interview as though that 
were your right, as indeed it is. Dodge the question 
of salary until you are face to face with the employer 
and he has had time to take stock of your fitness for 
his vacancy. 

An introduction of the right sort will help you if 
you can manage it. Be sure, however, that it is made 
by a person in whom the employer has confidence. It 
may be a letter from a personal friend of your own or, 
better, from a friend of the man who will hire you. 
Read it before you present it; if it does not say some¬ 
thing positive and specific about your ability or char¬ 
acter, keep it in your pocket—a poor letter is of less 
value to you than none at all. If you can command a 
man who knows you and the employer, a telephone 
introduction will sometimes do more than a bundle of 
letters, because it catches the employer in the right 


126 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


mood and allows him to make an appointment for an 
hour when he is at liberty. 

Even stronger, of course, is a personal introduction 
by a friend of the employer—though this is harder to 
arrange in business hours. Either of these two methods 
of approach may secure you a hearing from the em¬ 
ployer which could be attained in no other way—a 
matter of supreme importance if your aim is an execu¬ 
tive position, but a questionable privilege if you are 
looking for a place in the ranks and the house has a 
regular employment agent. If you believe you can 
interest your man sufficiently, the opportunity to im¬ 
press him is worth the risk attached. 

An introduction from an employee of the firm will 
help or hinder you in the same measure as he is re¬ 
garded by the employer as a “live wire” or a common¬ 
place person. Whatever his class, his vouching for you 
puts you in the same category—be sure, therefore, that 
he is in high favor before soliciting or accepting his 
good offices. 

Above all, make your application individually and 
alone. Nothing is ever gained by presenting yourself 
in company with another man, and very often both lose 
the place which either might have secured had he stood 
on his own feet and shouldered only his own handicap. 

You have studied the house as preliminary of your 
application, or at least assured yourself by correspond- 

The Interview ence or P ersona l inquiry that in the broad 
with the Em- essentials it will prove satisfactory. Now 
ployment Man s t uc [y the man W J 10 (} oes the hiring, his 

methods, peculiarities, prejudices, the qualities he 
seems to value most highly in a worker of your type, 
the things he weighs against a man. Then study your¬ 
self from his point of view; make an inventory of your 


H. A. WORMAN 


127 


qualifications and capacities and deliberately plan 
your approach. Eliminate from your story of your 
preparation for the place everything which he will find 
uninteresting or offensive, suppress insignificant de¬ 
tails, determine that you will not talk too much or 
allow yourself to digress from the main topic—the 
reasons why you are the best man for his vacancy. 

This may seem an elaborate method of asking a 
man for a job. In reality it is simple compared with 
the study and thought which a good specialty sales¬ 
man lavishes on his approach to a new prospective 
customer. For him, one sale is involved, yet he is 
willing to spend a half a day or even longer in famil¬ 
iarizing himself with every significant detail about the 
man whose order he hopes to land. How much more 
diligent, then, should be the inquiry of the appli¬ 
cant for a place—to whom the prize is not merely a 
sum of money, but the opportunity whose capture 
means a definite start on the highway of success. 

First impressions count for much—almost too 
much, indeed—with the general run of employers. 
What has been called the pre-approach, the five or 
ten seconds’ interval when you come directly under 
the employer’s eye, before you have had time to say 
a word, may influence his decision for or against you. 
Appearance and personality are the first things he 
considers, and if your dress or manner are not within 
certain limits which he has fixed for himself as proper 
for a worker of your type, your showing of training 
and experience may not succeed in overcoming his in¬ 
itial prejudice. Extravagance of any sort will con¬ 
demn you. 

Whether he has formulated his ideas or not, every 
employer is looking for a business man when he engages 


128 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


a tool-maker, a machinist, a stenographer or a mes¬ 
senger. Vivid clothing, florid shirts or neckties are 
almost as bad as neglect of your person, for the em¬ 
ployer figures that the man who squanders his re¬ 
sources on things of this sort will not be economical 
of the time he is trying to sell, the raw material or sup¬ 
plies he will have to use. It hardly need be said that 
a clean shave, spotless linen and a general air of neat¬ 
ness will impress an employer. 

When you approach the employment man, there¬ 
fore, be a business man every moment you are in his 
„ . presence. Composure means self-confi- 

Appearance at dence—otherwise faith in the commodity 
an interview y OU are offering him. Leave nervousness 

and too great an appearance of eagerness outside his 
office. Be earnest, however, and make it plain to him 
that you are serious in your desire to hire yourself to 
him. 


Don’t lounge in the chair he offers you; don’t 
twirl your hat or twiddle your thumbs; don’t cross 
and recross your legs or shift your position as though 
examination of your record made you uncomfortable. 
Remember that he is sizing you up by the way you 
answer his questions as much as by the matter of your 
answers. He wants to know what your education 
amounted to and where it was received—what special 
training or preparation you have had—what your ex¬ 
perience has been—the firms you have worked for— 
how they impressed you and you them. 

Be frank and straightforward, clear and concise in 
your answers, for your manner is giving him a line on 
your method of working and meeting your associates 
and on your character as a man and employee. Look 
him in the eye, therefore, when you answer; but don’t 


H. A. WORMAN 


129 


stare. Answer every question he asks you truthfully, 
but elaborate or cut short your replies according to the 
standards of the company as you have been able to 
determine them in your preliminary inquiry. Don’t 
ask him about methods in the departments, or shop 
conditions—these things you should have looked up be¬ 
fore presenting yourself, and your acquaintance with 
them will give him a better impression of your intelli¬ 
gence and mastery of your trade or occupation. 

He is looking for loyalty as well as character and 
ability—don’t speak slightingly of former employers, 
especially as your own standing in your specialty de¬ 
pends largely on the grade of shops or offices in which 
you have worked; and in depreciating them you 
cheapen yourself. He values honesty; therefore guard 
yourself against over-statements or invented details 
which you may modify a little later if his cross-exam¬ 
ination is keen. It is likely, too, if he appreciates the 
things which count in employing men, that he knows 
enough about general conditions in your last shop or 
office, the nature of your former employers, to check 
any information you proffer. 

He demands bodily health as part of his purchase 
—it is your cue, then, to radiate cheerfulness and ex¬ 
hibit energy under control. Smile when 
Health and . . . , , 

Optimism as you catch his eye, but don t grin or 

Telling Factors ] aU gh or 5 e unduly familiar even 

if he gives you an opening. You are conducting the 

most serious negotiations you can tackle—let him see 
that you appreciate their seriousness, but do not allow 
them to oppress you. A man who can’t give a good, 
clear, truthful and optimistic account of the business 
with which he is most intimate—his own affairs—can 
hardly expect an employer to take fire at the chance to 


130 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


add him to his organization. Diffidence, self-doubt, a 
low opinion of your own abilities and capacity to mas¬ 
ter new duties never expedite the sale of those abilities 
or promote a better bargain if the sale is made. 

Of your sincerity in desiring work, your industry 
and your intelligence, the employment man is taking 
stock as he talks. Your earnestness and willingness 
to work he may desire to test by offering you a position 
much lower in the scale than your skill and experience 
should command. Don’t jump at such an offer; neither 
scorn it. Make him analyze the place and the oppor¬ 
tunities it provides; show him that you will make any 
reasonable temporary sacrifice if it will lead to a per¬ 
manent connection and opportunity to exercise your 
best abilities. 

Employers are always on the lookout for such men 
—just as the offer of a minor position may be only a 
means of determining that you are not simply looking 
for experience in the line you follow, weighing only the 
weekly pay check or, if you are a young man, seeking a 
“vacation job.” If you profess to have had training 
and experience, half a dozen questions will give him a 
shrewd conception of your intelligence or a definite 
idea of your lack of truthfulness and industry. 

References he will ask for—as to training and 
experience if you have been employed before, as to 
The Kind character and habits whether you are a 
of References beginner or an adept in the business game, 
to Provide Your former employers furnish him the 

first class; for the second give him no relatives’ names, 
but the best men of your acquaintance in the communi¬ 
ties in which you have lived and worked. Furnish 
the names of men who will know most about you from 
the employer’s viewpoint—and unless you are intimate 


H. A. WORMAN 


131 


with them and can trust them to state your case favor¬ 
ably, write letters to them immediately explaining your 
action in offering their names and bespeaking their 
kindness in aiding you to secure the place you desire. 

Ministers and teachers, by reason of their con¬ 
sistent optimism and wide circles of acquaintances, are 
not considered the best references by men who have 
made a study of employment questions. Instead, use 
the names of business men. 

Summed up, your business is to determine exactly 
what you have to sell in the way of trained or untrained 
brains and hands; to decide which market will afford 
you the best return, remembering that a salary is not - 
the only pay you may secure, but that a chance to learn, 
to develop, to advance, should weigh more heavily in 
your decision; then to evolve the best manner of pre¬ 
senting your commodity in the chosen market and the 
most effective method of completing the sale. Every 
employer, every business has an individuality—your 
task is to choose that one whose demands you can most 
nearly match with the corresponding capacities for 
work, modifying the latter in non-essentials if neces¬ 
sary, and then convince the employer that you can de¬ 
liver the goods he seeks. Nothing more is involved in 
personal salesmanship. 


CHAPTER XIX 


APPLYING FOR A POSITION AS OFFICE CLERK 

BY S. ROLAND HALL 

Of the International Correspondence Schools 

The plan one should follow in trying to get a 
position as office clerk is fundamentally the plan that 
should be followed by all seeking employment in the 
business world. For instance, the good letter of appli¬ 
cation and the tactful interview are always strong 
factors. Much in this chapter, therefore, applies to all 
applicants for business positions; and these funda¬ 
mental principles will not be repeated in the chapters 
dealing with special classes. 

The term “office clerk” includes everything in 
the clerical line from the low salaried beginner, whose 
position is not much above that of an office boy’s, to 
the judicious man or woman responsible for things in 
the office of the president of a great railroad company, 
and whose important duties may bring a salary of $150 
or $200 a month. A clerkship is not necessarily a posi¬ 
tion affording low earnings or little opportunity for 
advancement. In fact, in spite of the demand for the 
specialist, there is a broad field for the man of superior 
general ability; there are many positions of high re¬ 
sponsibility and reward toward which he gravitates as 
his good qualities become recognized. 

While not finding employment so readily or getting 
so good an initial salary as those trained for some 

132 


S. ROLAND HALL 


133 


special service, the capable office clerk, when once he 
is employed with a good concern, usually has ample 
opportunity to work up to a first class executive posi¬ 
tion. Not being held down to the monotony of one 
kind of work, his general qualities have more chance 
to shine and to be developed. 

What are general qualities? Loyalty, good judg¬ 
ment, ability to act quickly and work accurately under 

The General stress, an industrious, willing, courteous 
dualities of spirit, a good knowledge of English, abil- 
Office Clerks ity to write a plain, rapid hand; enough 

“horse sense’’ to know when to speak and when to 
say nothing. Who will say that the business world has 
too many men of this mold or can ever have too many 
of them? 

The high salaried secretaries of men like the Presi¬ 
dent of the United States and the heads of great in¬ 
terests are not paid their high salaries for their ability 
to write letters. A stenographer competent to write 
good letters may be had for $15 or $18 a week. The 
all-around fitness and the rarely erring judgment of the 
high salaried secretary is what shoves up the salary 
figure for him. 

When an employer wants a stenographer, steno¬ 
graphic ability is his first concern; the personality of 
the applicant is a minor consideration. But in the 
case of the office clerk applicant, attention centers on 
the personality. Having no specialty, if he expects to 
do well from the start, his general qualities must be 
more than ordinarily attractive; if they are not, the 
chances are against him, and he would do well to fit 
himself for some specialty. 

If you are already employed, are you sure you 
should change? Of course, if you are tied down to 


134 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


low waged, futureless work, you ought to change; and 
in such a case, have the courage and faith to make any 
necessary sacrifice or to take any reasonable risk in 
changing. It takes grit to give up a $20 a week posi¬ 
tion, where you have reached your limit, to get a foot¬ 
hold in another business that, while offering a good 
future, brings you an immediate salary of only $10 a 
week, but the temporary sacrifice should not hinder; 
look to the future. 

Remember, though, that a rule about boarding 
houses applies equally well to positions; don’t change 

Whether to ^ you are we ll satisfied where you 

Seek a Change are. You know your present employer’s 
of Work eccentricities and the peculiar features of 

the work. Some things don’t suit you, of course, but 
if you set out to find Utopia in the working world, your 
search will be vain. To change may be jumping out of 
the frying pan into the fire. 

What you have learned in one business may be of 
no service in another. High salaried specialists become 
specialists and become high salaried by sticking to one 
thing. See whether you cannot increase your useful¬ 
ness where you are. Your employer will not appreciate 
it? Well, try it anyhow; it will be good training. 

We admire the man who hitches his wagon to a 
star, but it is unfortunate that some do not know when 
they are doing well. An acquaintance who for years 
held a congenial position paying him a good salary 
made a change without good reason, there being plenty 
of opportunity for further advancement. Now he has 
a hard time holding any position that will pay him two- 
thirds of his old salary. 

I can look back over my early business career and 
see where several of the changes I made were unneces- 


S. ROLAND HALL 


135 


sary—that if I had been more patient, more steadfast, 
more determined to make the most of the opportunities 
before me, I should have done well to remain. There¬ 
fore, look well before yon leap, or yon may rue the 
day you made the change. If an applicant can say 
truthfully, “I was with my last employers six years,” 
he scores a good point. It shows that he has stability, 
which is often just as important as ability. 

Even if you are certain that you ought to make 
change, don’t—if possible—give up the old position 

The Handicap until y° u get the new one. There are 
of the Unem- some exceptions to this rule, of course, 
ployed Man ^ young man out on a farm can hardly 
expect to have a place provided for him in the city 
before he leaves the farm; but the rule is a good gen¬ 
eral one to follow, for several reasons. You may not 
be successful in getting the new place and may be glad 
to stay in the old one. Even if you are finally success¬ 
ful, the interval of waiting may be longer than you are 
prepared to remain idle. Most important of all reasons, 
employers do not readily believe that a valuable man 
will be out of employment, and the burden will be on 
such a one to show why he is unemployed. The em¬ 
ployed applicant usually has a much better chance than 
the unemployed one. So if it is at all practicable, hold 
on to the old job until you make the new engagement. 

If you have gained experience in the old work 
that is of value, and that kind of employment is con¬ 
genial, try to get where your experience will count. 
This plan will not only make it easier to get a new 
position, but it will save the necessity of learning an 
entirely new business—starting at the foot of the ladder 
once more. If, for instance, you have had experience 
in an insurance office, undoubtedly you can, if you like 


136 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


the insurance business, get ahead faster in another in¬ 
surance office than you could in a bank or in the office 
of an electric company. 

At any rate, in deciding what to try next, have 
more regard for the future possibilities than for the 
immediate salary. 

There are various ways by which you may market 
your services: through employment agencies, by ad¬ 
vertising for a position, by writing unsolicited letters 
of application, by answering advertisements, by apply¬ 
ing in person. 

The office clerk applicant should not depend on 
employment agencies, though by enrolling with the 

What an Em- it is possible that he may get in 

pioyment touch with a desirable vacancy. But be- 
Agency Can Do £ ore p a yj n g an a dvance fee, be sure that 

the agency is patronized by responsible business con¬ 
cerns and is prepared to render a service. Some 
agencies can be of real assistance: many exist mainly 
on the advance fees that they collect from those 
for whom they can do nothing. Some of the Young 
Men’s Christian Associations are doing good work in 
their employment departments. Don’t enrol with an 
agency and then rest on your oars; keep hustling. 

Employers are more likely to look through the 
“Situations Wanted” columns of the newspapers when 
in need of helpers of general qualifications than when 
searching for those with special qualifications. The 
best newspapers are worth trying with an advertise¬ 
ment. State your qualifications and experience—if 
any—as definitely as possible. 

Business acquaintances—particlarly former em¬ 
ployers—can render valuable assistance, if your efforts 
have made a favorable impression on them. Tell them 


S. ROLAND HALL 


137 


Hovember 25, 1907. 

Mr. Louis Wingate, 

Cashier, PEOPLES BANK. 

Dear slr:- 

Wlll you please consider me the first time there 
Is a vacancy In your force? 

I am at present employed with the Kelaey Bollefr 
Manufacturing Company as general office clerk and aosLstant 
paymaster. I have been here two years; and as I seem to 
have reached my limit, I want to get where I will have a 
better opportunity. 

I came with the*Kelsey Company immediately after 

being graduated from the High School. I feel particularly 

attracted to the banking business, and I think my general 

experience here couplea wlth my particular experience in 

making up payrolls and paying employees will enable me.to 

make myself useful from the first. I am good at figures, 

and the sheet that I am sending you with this letter will 

Show that I write a good business hand. 

My age is twenty-one, and I am single. 

I am satisfied that Mr. Colfax, the general manager 

of this company, will tell you that I have done my utmost 

to give satisfactory service here. I should be glad to have 

you write to him, and also to Mr. Thomas.Keefe, manager of 
• * 

the Keefe Hardware Company of this city, who 13 familiar 
enough with my service to give you a correct estimate of 
my ..ability .and reliability. 

Could you offer me a chance now? I should be pleased 
to come in to see .you at any time yon can -talk with me. 

Your.s tjxOy, 

402 N. Charles Street-, 

Baltimore, Maryland*. 


A good unsolicited letter of application, giving- the essential facts of the 
candidate’s pieparation, his present employment and his 
reasons for wishing to change 








138 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


what you are trying to get, and ask for support. Once 
in my experience, a busy man left his office and called 
on a publisher of a newspaper to support an application 
I had made, merely because I wrote him about my ap¬ 
plication and said I should be grateful for anything he 
could do to help me. 

Nowadays most employers prefer to have an ap¬ 
plicant give references. They then write and ask for 
confidential information from the persons whose names 
and addresses he gave. Still, a concise, pointed letter 
of recommendation may prove of considerable value. 
The accompanying is an example of a good recom¬ 
mendation. 

Note that this letter suggests why the young man 
is leaving and that it outlines his particular experi- 

w ell Meant ence - Well meaning friends usually 
Praise That praise too much and deal too little with 
Does not Count particulars. It is a good idea, when 

asking for a recommendation, to say something 
like this: “1 have heard you speak well of that work 
I did.Please cover that in your let¬ 

ter.” The good letter of recommendation will always 
mention for what particular duties a person is fitted, 
if any. 

Endorsements from employers are the best. If you 
have never been employed, try business acquaintances 
and teachers rather than relatives. 

A recommendation from an employer that closes 
with: “He is worth a great deal more than we can 
afford to pay, and he leaves with our regrets and best 
wishes,” will be an “open sesame” to many doors. 

The plan of writing unsolicited letters of applica¬ 
tion direct to employers is good and is especially rec¬ 
ommended where you are fitted for the work that such 



S. ROLAND HALL 


139 


employers control. In large offices there is constant 
demand for the right kind of new timber. Should 
there be no vacancies at the time your letter is received, 
it will be filed—provided you appear to be a desirable 
applicant. 

Great strongholds are taken only after long be¬ 
sieging. To get with the leading bank, newspaper, 
manufacturer, or railroad, may require a year of 
studied effort; but if you are tactful while being per¬ 
sistent, an opening will probably come some day. The 
mistake that most applicants make is that of becoming 
weary in well doing. I have known a man to write a 
hundred letters of direct application before he ob¬ 
tained what he wanted, but the hundred letters cost - 
him only a few dollars and a little time. What was 
that compared with getting the position he wanted? 

An example of a good unsolicited letter of appli¬ 
cation appears on another page. 

Note that this letter did not ask what the hours 
of the bank were—that it did not state what salary the 
applicant wanted, or inquire what the cashier would 
agree to give him at the end of the first six months. 
Mention of these matters was properly omitted. What 
this applicant wanted was a chance at a position in a 
good bank, and he would probably never have had 
the chance had he brought up the questions of hours 
and salary at this stage of the negotiations. 

So many employees are nowadays engaged through 
the advertising columns of newspapers and trade pub- 
The Letter lications that it is very important, indeed, 

the Key to a to know how to write a good letter of ap- 
Situation plication. While it is true that the posi¬ 
tion usually hinges on the interview, the interview, in 
turn, depends on the letter. The letter, therefore, is 


140 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


January 20, 1907. 

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: 

Mr. Eugene Powers'^as with me for two years, 
assisting in the general work of this office. During 
my twenty years' service as clerk of courts I have 
had a number of assistants, but no one whose service 
was uniformly more satisfactory than that Mr. Powers 
has rendered. He leaves of his own accord and not 
because I would have him do so; I realize that the 
opportunity here Is not one that would Justify hla 
in. remaining with me many years. He is certainly 
& desirable young man for anyone needing an office 
clerk of superior ability. He has proven himself puac- 
tual, accurate and thoroughly reliable. His experience 
here will make him particularly valuable in any office 
where there is recording to be done or other work 
of the particular nature found In such offices as this, 

joaiah Flynt, Clerk of Courts, 
Wayne County, Ohio. 


A letter of recommendation which tells specifically the qualifications of the can¬ 
didate and explains his previous relations with the writer of the letter 

the key to the situation in most cases, and if it isn’t 
just right, it is swallowed by the yawning waste bas¬ 
ket. 

There is a wide difference between replying to an 
advertisement and answering it. An employer in a 
large city, advertising for a clerk, will receive a great 
many replies but few answers. As a rule, only one 




S. ROLAND HALL 


141 


letter in about every twelve is impressive enough to 
win an interview. 

Pay close attention to the wording of the advertise¬ 
ment. The advertiser knows what he wants. Meet 
the points squarely; if he asks age, experience, and 
salary expected, give the information. Don’t tell him 
that you will be pleased to give these details in the 
interview. Why do you suppose he asked his question? 
Answer them and wait until the interview to ask yours. 

Be prompt in replying. Early letters are likely to 
make strong impressions. I recall an instance where 
an employer gave a young woman a position because 
her letter came by special delivery; the business was 
one that required quick thought and action. 

Write an original letter; don’t copy a form. The 
letter should be faultless in its mechanical appearance, 
grammatical in construction and punctuation, and 
folded and addressed properly. If you make a mis¬ 
take, do not erase the words; write the letter over. The 
typewritten letter is preferred on account of its greater 
legibility; but if the position is one in which pen work 
is required, send the letter in your own handwriting, or 
send a typewritten letter and submit a specimen of your 
penmanship on a separate sheet. 

Use simple language, and do not be flippant. 

“I believe I could fill the position and should like 

to have you give me a trial” is probably, in substance, 

_ . what four out of five applicants write. 

Replies That 11 

Are not Specific That is a reply, but not an answer. You 
Answers must have something in your letter that 

will put you among those who will be asked to call. 
Avoid being tiresome, but write a complete letter. How 
can a prospective employer know what you can do, or 
what you believe you can do, unless you tell him? 


142 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


If the advertiser specifies work that you can do, 
make that your strong point; give your training and 
experience. If an advertisement is indefinite, tell, if 
possible, about some special ability or experience. 

Be enthusiastic and earnest. If duties are specified 
in which you are inexperienced, be frank enough to 
admit your inexperience, but show the advertiser that 
you have confidence in your ability to perform those 
duties. 

It is well to give the details of your education, 
especially if the position is one where the matter of 
education is likely to have unusual weight. 

You should give a concise list of your past connec¬ 
tions, the length of time in each, reasons for changing, 

What to Tell anc l S0 ° n * ^ ^ 0U Can s ^ ow that ^ 0U 

in a Letter of advanced gradually in salary and ability, 
Application gQ> recorc i p e complete; gaps 

are likely to arouse suspicion. Do not try to make 
a strong point of the many positions you have filled. 
The fact that you have filled several responsible posi¬ 
tions successfully bespeaks good experience, but the 
mention of many changes will score against you. 

Ordinarily, it is better not to lay stress on the 
subject of salary—certainly not in the letter at any 
rate. Show first that you are the one for the place; 
if you can do that, most employers will sooner or later 
pay what you are worth. 

If possible, refer to former employers; at any rate, 
give the names and addressee of some people who can 
speak a good word for you. 

If you send an original letter of endorsement, en¬ 
close a stamped and addressed envelope for its return. 
Otherwise, do not enclose a stamp. Usually it is better 
to send copies of endorsements, preserving originals.. 


S. ROLAND HALL 


143 


Try to get an interview. If yon are some distance 
from the advertiser, offer to go half way, or all the way, 
for a talk with him. 

If you have the advertiser’s permanent address, it 
is sometimes well to send a second letter in case the 
first brings no response. Positions are not always 
filled quickly, and the second letter may impress the 
employer with your conviction of your fitness. Most 
business men admire the hustler. 

Most employers prefer to have the applicant write 
a letter before coming for an interview, for a letter is, 
as a rule, fairly representative of an office man’s gen¬ 
eral ability. However, there are times when it is ex¬ 
pedient to call at once without waiting to write a let¬ 
ter; and often it is a good plan to do both, write the 
letter and call at about the time the letter is delivered 
or immediately afterward, letting the letter serve as 
an introduction. Where you learn incidentally of a 
place that is open, it will do no harm to call at once, 
writing a letter afterward if the advertiser wishes you 
to do so. 

When you are asked to call for an interview, the 
battle is only half won. Your personal appearance and 
your conversation must be such that the favorable im¬ 
pression will continue. You will be observed critically. 
Don’t go with the smell of liquor on your breath or 
with cigarette-stained fingers. Have your hands and 
finger nails clean, your face well shaven, your shoes 
polished. Let your collar, shirt and cuffs be spotless, 
your hat and coat brushed. If you haven’t already 
learned the fine art of courtesy, it is high time to begin. 
Politeness is a valuable business asset. When an appli¬ 
cant closes the door carefully and immediately takes off 
his hat, showing well brushed hair, he has made a good 


144 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


start. Little things count. A capable man once lost his 
chance at a good position because he nibbled his finger 
nails while awaiting his turn to talk. 

It is not easy to advise how one should talk and con¬ 
duct himself during an interview, for much depends 
on circumstances; but if you prepare yourself, keep 
cool, think quickly and avoid side issues, you will do 
yourself justice. 

The matter of compensation is, of course, an im¬ 
portant point to settle. Usually it is the final consider¬ 
ation. 


If you are inexperienced or unemployed, it is bet¬ 
ter to let the employer say what he is willing to pay, 

n .. and to start in at that and prove your- 
The Question -in 

of Salary self worth more. Many will do well to 

Comes Last follow the example of an energetic fellow 
who said to a prospective employer: “ Never mind about 
the salary now; just let me come in and work for a 
week; then we can talk about the salary.” 

But in the case of men of good experience, the 
naming of a low salary or the instant acceptance of a 
low one offered by an employer may not be tactful. 
An employer looking for a $150 a month man is not 
likely to select an applicant who seems eager to take 
the place at $10 a week. The applicant’s low valuation 
of his service is likely to be accepted, and the em¬ 
ployer may conclude that he needs a more valuable 
man. 

Unfortunately, some selfishly-shrewd employers 
take advantage of the universal willingness of am¬ 
bitious applicants “to start in at anything.” Such 
employers describe glorious futures, get desirable peo¬ 
ple in at bare living wages, refuse to increase their 
salaries, and later let them go, engaging others by the 


S. ROLAND HALL 


145 


same unfair tactics. Employers of this kind do not 
exist in great numbers, but they are not extinct; where 
you are sure you are dealing with one of them, you do 
not hurt yourself by standing firmly for a fair com¬ 
pensation at the outset. 

In ninety-nine out of a hundred cases, however, 
the man or woman of real ability can afford to go into 
an office at a moderate salary without fear that merit 
will in due time fail to bring its full reward. The law 
of compensation, which ordains that we shall, sooner 
or later, receive what we truly earn, prevails generally. 

Last but not least, when the employer says, “You 
may report for duty Monday morning,” be on the alert 
—not only during the first week, but for all time—to 
live up to the high mark you have set for yourself. 


CHAPTER XX 


HOW TO APPLY FOR A POSITION AS BOOK¬ 
KEEPER 

BY S. ROLAND HALL 

Of the International Correspondence Schools 

The applicant for a bookkeeping position should 
follow, in general, the plans laid down in Chapter 
XIX. But like the stenographer and others with 
training for some special work, the bookkeeper, to be 
sucessful, must meet certain special requirements. 

As long as business is carried on, accounts and 
records must be kept, the billing and general financial 
end of affairs must be looked after carefully, and there 
will be a good opportunity for the capable, reliable, 
progressive bookkeeper. 

The successful bookkeeper of today is not the 
sad-eyed little man of a generation ago who sat on the 
high stool in the corner under the cobwebs, but an in¬ 
telligent, cool-headed, ambitious fellow, controlling the 
entire accounting end of the concern he serves, with 
all the details of the office thoroughly systematized and 
at his fingers’ ends. 

The opportunity for the bookkeeper of superior 
qualifications is better today than it was a dozen years 
ago. The consolidation of interests and the increas¬ 
ing number of large corporations have created more 
positions of high salary and responsibility. There has 
been a great awakening in business life; better office 

146 


S. ROLAND HALL 


147 


equipment and systems have been devised, and the ten¬ 
dency of the times is strongly toward improvement in 
office practice; toward systematizing, economizing and 
safeguarding; it is properly the office of the bookkeeper 
to create and carry out these improvements. This 
broadened field for the bookkeeper has, as a natural 
consequence, brought a demand for a more wide-awake 
man than the average bookkeeper of a dozen years ago. 
The young bookkeeper of today who is satisfied with 
what he has learned at a business school has no future. 

Do you write a plain, rapid hand ? Are you quick 
and accurate at calculating? Have you such a knowl- 

Qualifications edge of a11 kinds of bookkeeping that you 
That Help an could, with a little study of the situation, 
Applicant take charge of almost any set of books or 
records? Have you any knowledge of business law? 
Can you write a good collecting letter or a gentlemanly 
letter of explanation that will soothe an irate cus¬ 
tomer? Have you ever had to do with printing and 
can you read proof on a simple job? If you have any 
of these qualifications, or any others of like weight, 
bring out the facts briefly in your letter of application. 

Remember that reliability and courtesy are two im¬ 
portant considerations; have your references as to re¬ 
liability as strong as possible. 

Your letter should be faultlessly typewritten. 
Show your penmanship in a postscript devoted to that 
purpose, or by enclosing an extra sheet. Don’t write 
a heavily shaded, flourished style; dispense with all 
superfluous twirls. 

Recently these came to my notice an incident of 
a young man who after applying for a position in a 
bank and making a favorable impression lost his 
chance by carelessness. He was asked to submit a let- 


148 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


ter of application. Making a slight mistake, he drew 
his pen through one or two words and went on. There 
being, in banks, great need for accuracy, the cashier 
preferred to employ someone who could write correctly 
the first time or who at least would know better than 
to leave an error corrected in that way. Originality 
in his work commends a bookkeeper to an employer. 

Send a copy of anything of the nature of a good 
bill head or a carbon duplicate sheet that you may 
have devised. It is worth while mentioning anything 
good in a checking or* recording scheme that you have 
ever worked out. While being careful not to create the 
impression that you are continually changing methods, 
remember that you are selling your ability and that 
you must give employers real reasons why they should 
engage you. Therefore, search your record for selling 
points. 

Trustworthiness is a prime consideration; so you 
should be careful to give reasons for making any 
change that you may have made. 

If you are punctual and energetic and do not use 
intoxicating liquors or cigarettes, these items are well 
worth including in your letters. 

If you have had experience, you stand your best 
chance in the line or lines in which you have been 
Keep to employed. A bookkeeper who has served 

Related Lines a shoe manufacturer will find that the 
of Work knowledge he has gained of that particu¬ 

lar class of bookkeeping, together with the general in¬ 
formation that he has absorbed, will make him of con¬ 
siderably more value to another shoe manufacturer 
than he would be to a retail hardware dealer. Special 
experience constitutes a strong claim; therefore, make 
it a feature of your applications when you can. 


S. ROLAND IIALL 


149 


You will do well to make and maintain acquaint¬ 
ances among business people, for these personal rela¬ 
tions often lead to the first choice of desirable places. 

As the bookkeeper’s position is one that is most 
likely of all clerical positions to be permanent and 
one in which good qualities cannot fail to come to 
the notice of the employer, the applicant, unless he 
is a man of valuable experience, can well afford to 
take a new position at a salary that represents less 
than he is really worth. To get with the right con¬ 
cern is of infinitely more importance than the imme¬ 
diate compensation, unless the bookkeeper has a family 
to support, and even then the chance may more than 
justify sacrifice for a year or so. But he should be 
sure that the business is of such magnitude and char¬ 
acter that its proprietors can afford to pay a good 
salary when he has proven his efficiency. 


CHAPTER XXI 


HOW TO APPLY FOR A POSITION AS STENOG¬ 
RAPHER 

BY S. ROLAND HALL 

Of the International Correspondence Schools 

Some special considerations make the method of 
applying for a position different in the case of the 
stenographer than in the case of the office clerk. 

Don’t try for a position until you can take let¬ 
ter-dictation at fair speed and can transcribe your 
notes accurately. It is better to devote an extra 
month to faithful practicing than to go unprepared 
into a busy office and make a discouraging failure. 
Have someone dictate all kinds of matter to you, and 
when possible, transcribe much of it on the typewriter. 
This transcribing practice is extremely important. 

Above all, be proficient in typewriting. Read 
everything you can find that gives any points about 
good form and style. Employers will overlook some 
lack of shorthand speed if the typewriting is rapid and 
faultless. The employment bureau of a typewriter 
company that places thousands of stenographers in 
positions every year reports that four-fifths of those 
seeking its aid fail to attain satisfactory marks on the 
typewriting tests. The moral is plain. 

As final preparation before starting out, have a 
business acquaintance dictate a dozen letters to you, 
and beg him to be unsparing in his criticism of every- 

150 


S. ROLAND HALL 


151 


thing from the misplaced comma and the wrongly capi¬ 
talized word to the improper balancing of the type¬ 
writing on the sheet. It is much better for you to get 
these hard knocks before you get into real work, and 
rarely are they given in a schoolroom. 

The construction and appearance of the letter of 
application are always important, but in the case of 
the stenographer they are more than usually vital, for 
the stenographer’s business is to write good letters. 
A salesman might write a poor letter and still be able 
to convince an employer that he was a desirable man, 
but how can a stenographer expect to convince a busi¬ 
ness man that he can turn out first class letters when 
his own letter contains mistakes? 

Typewrite your letters of application and be most 
careful about every detail from the date line to the 

Attention to signature. Don’t begin too near the top 
Details of of the sheet. Leave ample blank mar- 
letter Writing g,* ns a j. jf the letter is written 

single-spaced, be sure to leave a blank space between 
paragraphs. Don’t do any reasonless abbreviating— 
a most common fault among stenographers. Don’t 
try to correct errors by striking one letter on top of 
another. When obliged to make an erasure, make it 
neatly, so that no smudge is left. If you are not sure 
that you have spelled correctly, that you have divided 
a word properly at the end of a line, or that you have 
compounded when you should have done so, consult 
the dictionary. The dictionary is* your best friend. 

Sign your letters with a pen. Women should 
write “Miss” or “Mrs.” in brackets before their 
names. 

Stenographic ability is the prime consideration. 
Therefore, tell what you can do. If you are a gradu- 


152 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


ate of a business school that has a good reputation 
among business men, refer to it; but you need not ex¬ 
pect a diploma from a mediocre school to be of any 
service. 

If you have had any experience or done any 
private work, give the details. There is really no 

How Beginners reason wh ^ an F beginner may not get a 
Can Get little experience. If he will go around 

Experience among business acquaintances and offer 

to do typewriting or stenographic work free of charge, 
he is more than likely to be accommodated; and such 
work will not only afford good practice but will earn 
a recommendation and a reference, if it is done faith¬ 
fully and well. 

If you are particularly good at some kind of type¬ 
writing, as the copying of law papers or tabular re¬ 
ports, send a sheet of such work, being careful not to 
send out anything in the way of confidential papers 
that may have been entrusted to you. 

If you have ability in composing letters and can 
take care of routine correspondence without dicta¬ 
tion after you learn the details of the business, it is 
a strong point in your favor and should always be 
mentioned. 

So many employers were once stenographers that 
if you write a symmetrical style of shorthand, it is 
not a bad idea to send a page of your notes; fre¬ 
quently someone in the office is able to tell from the 
notes that you are an accurate writer, and this rather 
novel feature of your application may attract favor¬ 
able attention. 

Tell what machine you can operate. If you are 
a good speller and punctuator, emphasize that fact; 
such stenographers are rare. 


S. ROLAND HALL 


153 


An employment bureau able to help anyone 
should be able to help the stenographer. The best 
bureaus for stenographers, however, are those at the 
various branch offices of the larger typewriter com¬ 
panies, and these give assistance free of charge to 
operators of their machines. Business men patronize 
these bureaus regularly. 

Watch closely the “Help Wanted” columns of the 
leading daily papers. The fact that there are a num¬ 
ber of applicants for almost every position makes no 
difference; most of the applicants are woefully in¬ 
competent and their letters command no attention. 

Rarely can a position as stenographer be closed 
by correspondence. It is useless to apply to a dis¬ 
tant advertiser unless you are willing to go for an in¬ 
terview. Some time ago, when advertising for a sten¬ 
ographer, I had a young woman give an excellent 
demonstration of the wrong way of applying. She 
lived in another city, a little more than an hour’s ride 
away. She first wrote, saying essentially that she 
had heard of the vacancy and would like to have the 
position—giving no particulars about her ability. 
Then she asked her brother-in-law, who happened to 
be in my city, to see me and, I suppose, to get the 
position for her. He knew practically nothing about 
her ability, and could not have obtained the position 
for her if he had known. If the young woman was in 
earnest, she should have either come down at once or 
written a letter of full details and expressed her will¬ 
ingness to come for an interview. 

When you take your test, be sure that the car¬ 
riage of the machine does not “stick” and that the 
types are clean before you begin to transcribe. Ask 
the dictator if he prefers 5-space indention or 10-space 


154 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


indention for the paragraphs. Find out whether he 
likes double-spacing or single-spacing for his letters, 
and if he wishes a carbon copy. Such evident desire 
to please will not fail to have its effect. 

If you were very nervous during the first test and 
failed to do yourself justice, confess it frankly and 
ask the dictator if he will not be good enough to 
give you a second chance. 

Not long ago a bright girl with a splendid training 
as stenographer and typewriter operator was telling 
me how timid she felt in applying for 

Ability es e . . 

Substitute for positions, because she had no experience. 

Experience Employers stipulate experience only be¬ 
cause it usually means superior ability. If you have 
the ability, don’t let the experience bugbear frighten 
you. I have seen bright beginners who did much 
better than others with several years of practical ex¬ 
perience. 

Don’t quibble about hours if you want the posi¬ 
tion, and don’t intimate that while you will accept, 
you would rather be where you can come'and go as 
you please, read novels and entertain friends. 

If you are a woman, remember that true dignity 
and refraining from flippant talk always count in your 
favor. The well bred, serious minded young woman 
has a great advantage over the gum-chewing, loudly 
dressed, loosely talking type so often seen. 

The same principle applies to young men. The 
careless, “sporty” boy with the cigarette habit and 
the noisy manner is handicapped hopelessly when he 
comes into competition with a youth careful of his 
dress, manner and speech, and wide-awake to the great 
opportunity in the business world that his ability as 
a stenographer opens to him. 


CHAPTER XXII 


HOW TO APPLY FOR A POSITION AS RETAIL 

CLERK 

BY S. ROLAND HALL 

Of the International Correspondence Schools 

Most of Chapter XIX applies with full force to 
applicants for positions as retail clerks. In many re¬ 
spects, the retail clerk position is like that of the 
office clerk, but there are some differences, and re¬ 
gard must be had for these differences. 

The retail clerk does business with individual 
customers, and personality plays an important part 
in his work. In order to be able to build up a good 
sales record, he must have the selling instinct—it is 
immaterial whether he has it naturally or acquires it— 
and this necessitates good address; good address, in 
turn, includes the fine arts of courtesy and tactful 
speech. 

The retail clerk field is a sort of dumping ground 
for all the people who do not want or do not try to 
get into other lines. The result is a great many of 
clerks, most of whom possess inadequate qualifica¬ 
tions. How often v. T e see the young man who either 
knows better than you do what you ought to have or 
waits on you disgruntledly; how seldom we see one 
who waits on a customer as if he were his brother, 
who advises honestly when he can advise, who seems 
to have pleasure in giving what is wanted, no matter 

155 


156 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


how long the search or how exacting the require¬ 
ments. What a host there is of frowzy girls and flip¬ 
pant girls who don’t know where anything is and 
don’t think it is essential to know; and how few of 
the intelligent, business-minded young women w T ho 
make you feel as though you were the most valued 
customer of the store. 

The value of courtesy to one seeking a position 
as retail clerk is well illustrated by an experience of 
a new salesman in the store of Marshall Field & Com¬ 
pany. He was at the cravat counter, and the elderly 
gentleman on whom he was waiting was very hard to 
please. He insisted on seeing almost everything at 
the counter, and he tossed the cravats around impa¬ 
tiently, taking a long time to select the few that he 
wanted. But the new clerk stood the test well and 
was no less pleased than astonished when the man 
asked to have the amount charged, and gave the name 
“Marshall Field.” 

The far-seeing merchant knows that the best ad¬ 
vertisement is a pleased customer, and is likely to 
give more than usual consideration to a clerk who 
shows he believes in that principle. If, in a former 
position, you had customers deal with you by prefer¬ 
ence year after year, refer to it. 

Plow should the applicant go about it? In gen¬ 
eral, the five methods of obtaining employment out- 

Applications lined in cha P ter XIX may be followed. 
Covering a One who thinks he has ability as a sales- 
Wide Field man ought to be able to sell his own ser¬ 
vices. Take the bull by the horns. Write the best 
unsolicited letters you can compose and send them to 
all the proprietors and employing superintendents of 
the various stores in which you would like employ- 


S. ROLAND HALL 


157 


ment. Don’t confine yourself to your own town un¬ 
less it is impracticable for you to go elsewhere; a 
man must usually go to his work rather than try to 
have his work come to him. 

Call on the employing superintendents; don’t 
wait for their advertisements to appear. If you make 
a favorable impression, you will be put on the wait¬ 
ing list. No one knows better than proprietors of large 
stores how few really first class clerks there are to be 
had. Calls are recommended because of the part that 
personality plays in retail store work. 

The establishment of new stores does not always 
present opportunities that justify employed salesmen 
in making changes, but it does present good oppor¬ 
tunities for the unemployed clerk. Watch the papers 
for announcement of the opening of new stores. 

Be aggressive in your interviews, but don’t be 
too forward or familiar. Don’t point your finger in 
argument at the prospective employer. The successful 
salesman does not slap his customer on the back, par¬ 
ticularly when he expects the customer to buy his 
services. 

Neatness of person and good taste in dress are 
even more important to retail clerks than to most 
other classes of applicants. Where the position is 
with a department, clothing, or men’s furnishing store, 
the clerk does well to follow prevailing styles. 

Tell in your letters and interviews about your 
sales records in former positions. Remember that the 
merchant is not looking for someone to 

jl hg i rails 

a Merchant is ornament his store, but for the man or 
Looking for the woman w p 0 can turn or h er g 00( J 

qualities into the weekly total of sales. If you have 
trade that you can turn toward the store, say so. 


158 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


Even if the patronage you can influence does not 
amount to a great deal, it will show the prospective 
employer that you have an eye to business—that your 
only consideration is not “six o’clock and six dol¬ 
lars.” In some lines, clothing, for instance, the pat¬ 
ronage that a popular salesman can bring with him 
is an important consideration, and is a factor in de¬ 
ciding what the compensation shall be. In such case, 
it may be advisable to ask for a part-salary, part- 
commission arrangement. 

If you are orderly and systematic and have the 
knack of knowing the store without interfering with 
other clerks, bring out that point. 

Have you any ability in trimming windows, in 
decorating counters, or in making price cards? Such 
attainments, even if they are not marked, will in¬ 
crease your value in the eyes of an employer. 

Show that you know how to find the good selling 
points of an article and that you recognize the im¬ 
portance of being familiar with what the store ad¬ 
vertises. 

Good recommendations from former employers or 
from business acquaintances are of value. If you can 
get these from someone whom the prospective em¬ 
ployer knows personally or by reputation, so much 
the better, t 

Other things being equal, employers prefer men 
with experience in their particular lines. If your ex¬ 
perience has been in the selling of carpets and rugs, 
better stick to that line unless there is some very good 
reason for changing. Your knowledge of such goods 
will prove invaluable to you, not only in getting a 
position but in forging ahead after you get it. 


CHAPTER XXIII 


HOW TO APPLY FOR A POSITION AS ADVER¬ 
TISING MAN 

BY S. ROLAND HALL 

Of the International Correspondence Schools 

Positions in the advertising world may be divided 
into four classes: advertisement writers; advertising 
solicitors; advertising managers, and advertising 
agency men. A position as advertisement writer is the 
easiest of all to get, that of advertising solicitor the 
next, and so on. 

With a nose for discovering the selling points of 
an article or service, a little knowledge of types and 
printing house methods and the ability to write plain, 
direct English, a young man or young woman will not 
find it difficult to secure the patronage of several 
small advertisers or to get a position at a regular 
salary with an advertiser who can afford to employ 
a writer of fair ability for his work alone. 

Hundreds of publishers can find a position for 
the energetic man who cannot only help advertisers 
with plans and copy, but also has ability in soliciting 
and can drum up steady advertising patronage. 

In order to get a position as advertising mana¬ 
ger of a large concern, however, it will be necessary 
to show superior ability and experience. 

The agency position is not always the hardest to 
get, but it is by all odds the hardest to hold. It re- 

159 


160 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


quires unusual versatility, a more general knowledge 
of the entire advertising field, and the stamina to turn 
out advertising matter of a high order while working 
under pressure. The diversified experience that will be 
gained in an advertising agency, if one can hold the 
sition. Thus armed, he will have more than mere 
advertising manager. 

Every experienced advertising man should be 
equipped with a complete exhibit of all the creditable 
work he has done when he starts out to hunt a po¬ 
sition. Thus armed, he will have more than mere 
claims to support his applications. Make it a rule 
to keep copies of all your best advertisements, to¬ 
gether with data regarding the results, and to save 
file copies of effective folders, booklets and catalogs 
that you prepare. 

It is the best plan, though, not to send a mass 
of material along with an unsolicited letter of appli¬ 
cation or with even an answer to an advertisement, 
unless the advertiser asks for complete samples. The 
danger, where there is so much, is that the best things 
may be overlooked. Send only the best and offer to 
submit a great variety. The idea is first to create 
interest. A single effective advertisement or booklet 
which can go with the letter, will attract an employer’s 
attention, and he will then be more inclined to ex¬ 
amine much of your work. 

The inexperienced man—he whose knowledge has 
been acquired perhaps from a course of study and the 

How to utilize re " lllar reading of the advertising jour- 
Sampies of nals—cannot show real work, but he can 
Good Work d 0 nex t best thing; he can write a first 
class advertisement and have it set attractively at his 
own expense, taking proofs enough to have a copy 


S. ROLAND HALL 


161 


for each of his letters of application. There is noth¬ 
ing else so convincing as the proof of a set advertise¬ 
ment. The best copy will look somewhat tame in 
writing. Some of the shrewdest copy writers make a 
practice, when dealing with prospective clients, not to 
show their work until they can give proofs taken on 
book paper. This involves a little trouble; but the 
prizes of today go to the people who take trouble to 
do things a little better than most other people do 
them. 

The applicant may make his claims still stronger 
by sending, in addition to proofs of some of his best 
work, a carefully laid out advertisement for the pros¬ 
pective employer’s business. The ability to sketch 
an advertisement neatly, lettering in display lines and 
borders as they will appear in print, or to get up a 
dummy for a booklet, showing the general scheme in 
colors and the paper to be used, is not only a great aid 
to the independent writer looking for patronage, but 
will command favorable consideration from employers 
wanting salaried men. Any paper dealer will furnish 
sheets for a booklet dummy, and illustrations giving 
a general idea can be cut out of other printed matter. 

Do not write your advertisement for the adver¬ 
tiser’s business until you have made a most careful 
study of the business and the goods, for to send in 
an advertisement that is mediocre, or that abounds 
in boastful generalities rather than real sales argu¬ 
ment, or that is along a line that the advertiser has 
found is a losing one, would hurt your cause rather 
than help it. If there is not time to prepare a first 
class advertisement, better not send any. As one 
who serves a large concern, I am in a position to 
know that most of the copy sent by people who 


162 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


think they are submitting first class ideas is very poor; 
usually the ideas are commonplace, or those that have 
been overworked, or others that have been abandoned 
because of proven inefficiency. 

Plave respect for the accumulated experience of 
the large advertiser to whom you apply for a posi¬ 
tion. You could not more quickly lower yourself in 
his estimation than by telling him in your letter or 
your interview that you know all about his business 
and how to promote it, that everything he is doing is 
all wrong or only half right. Of course if you have had 
a long experience in his particular line, you can be more 
confident in your claims and more positive in your 
recommendations; but do not forget that advertising 
is not yet an exact science by any means—that every 
experienced advertiser, in the years he has been spend¬ 
ing his money and watching what came from it, has 
learned some things that you do not know. 

It is both sensible and tactful, if during an in¬ 
terview a hard question or problem is presented, to 
say, “That is a matter about which I should prefer 
to think; I should like to look into your experience 
and study the business a little before saying what I 
would do.” 

The wary advertiser is likely to set a trap for the 
cock-sure applicant. Once in my own experience an 

. __ . advertiser handed me a letter and asked 
to Catch an me to get up, as a test of my ability, a 
Applicant sales letter for his own business along 

the general plan of the letter he had handed me. I 
prepared the letter, but in doing so I became con¬ 
vinced that the scheme was altogether wrong, and 
though I turned in my copy, I told the advertiser 
frankly that I could not agree with him in thinking 


S. ROLAND HALL 


163 


the scheme was a good one—that, in my opinion, it 
would be a mistake to use such a letter. Weeks after 
I had been given that position, I found that the ad¬ 
vertiser had shared my view all the time but had made 
his request as a test of both my judgment and my 
candor. 

Superficial treatment of the subject will not do 
when you are trying for a high salaried position. You 
can get something from a study of the advertiser’s 
catalogs perhaps, but go further: talk to the men that 
make the article, if you can, or to the salesmen; and 
study the article itself. 

Show that you have confidence in your advertis¬ 
ing ability; ask to be put to the test, either in the 
writing of advertisements or in managing the position 
for a short time on trial. 

The good advertising man is a sales promoter, 
and his position and his salary depend almost entirely 
on his ability in this direction. He needs more faith 
in himself than most applicants require. He will not 
always be able to secure a contract for a term of 
years; his work must make his position permanent. 

The general principles already laid down about 
seeking employment in a business in which you are 
experienced apply just as strongly to advertising men 
as they do to others. Life is not long enough for a 
man to become an expert advertiser of everything. 
Running the publicity end of a department store is 
different in many ways from running a specialty mail 
order business, and there are different people to study 
when you change from baked beans to buggies. The 
migratory habits of advertising men have been a sub¬ 
ject of discussion lately. Better specialize. 


CHAPTER XXIV 


HOW TO APPLY FOR A POSITION AS TECHNI¬ 
CAL MAN 

BY S. ROLAND HALL 

Of the International Correspondence Schools 

The technical man, whether he be a graduate 
just out of a good school or an experienced special¬ 
ist, should find it easy to market his services, particu¬ 
larly if, in addition to a thorough technical training, 
he has the usual fundamental qualities of the success¬ 
ful man. 

There are two large fields open to technical men, 
the constructive and the administrative. The latter 
field can rarely be entered until a man has proven 
his efficiency in constructive work and has developed 
organizing and managing ability. The presidents of 
a number of large railway systems were civil engi¬ 
neers before stepping into the more responsible posi¬ 
tions, and it is said that about sixty per cent of the 
higher executive officials in the steel industry are men 
with engineering educations. Everywhere it is being 
recognized that if a man has the ability to organize 
and direct, he is the type of man needed to manage 
industrial corporations in the line in which he has 
technical training. His advantages over other men 
who have equal general ability, but only that, are ap¬ 
parent; the search today is for the man who fits the 
place best rather than for the barely competent man. 

164 


S. ROLAND HALL 


1G5 


It is therefore an erroneous idea to suppose that 
the service of the technical man necessarily comes to 
an end when construction is completed, for often this 
is the point where he comes into the best position of 
his life; what he has constructed must be superin¬ 
tended or forwarded, and usually he is the man best 
fitted for the work. 

In this day of great engineering undertakings and 
industrial combinations, the future for the capable 
technical man is bright. Even at the outset, he has 
a great advantage over graduates in some of the older 
professions, who, as a rule, find themselves barely able 
to meet expenses for a year or so: there is something 
wrong with the engineering graduate who cannot sup¬ 
port himself from the very beginning of his career. 

This is the day of the specialist. Employers 
know that one possessing a thorough technical edu¬ 
cation will quickly absorb the necessary practical ex¬ 
perience and become a valuable man. The graduating 
classes of the best schools are watched closely, and it 
is not unusual for a graduate to receive several offers 
by the time he is ready to step out. 

A good plan followed by many technical graduates 
is that of taking a first position as a draftsman, 
tester, or rodman, as the case may be, with a large 
company. This gives the man fresh from school the 
chance to gain invaluable experience, and the prestige 
that he earns by reason of his connection with such 
concerns is a mighty factor in obtaining other posi¬ 
tions. 

When it comes to permanent employment, there 
is something to be said in favor of both large con¬ 
cerns and small concerns. For the man of superior 
ability, opportunities are largest with large concerns; 


166 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


but the man of average ability is likely to do better 
with a small concern where there is not so much com¬ 
petition. But at the outset, a year or more with a 
large concern, particularly if one has opportunity to 
work in various departments, adds greatly to a tech¬ 
nical man’s qualifications. 

Positions with representative large concerns can, 
as a rule, be obtained best by writing direct letters of 
application. You need not wait for an advertisement 
to appear. If you are a young chemist, get a list of 


POSITION WANTED 

Am graduate of Manual-Training High 
School, with good record in machine-shop prac¬ 
tice, and want position with electrical company 
where I will have a chance to learn more. Have 
done practical work outside of school and am 
considered good draftsman. Willing to go any¬ 
where and to be generally useful. Hard worker; 
don’t mind long hours. Age 22. Give me in¬ 
terview or let me send specimens of work. F. 
K. F., 574 Pacific Street, Brooklyn, N. Y. 


An advertisement for a technical position which could be used to 
good advantage in trade papers 

manufacturing chemists and address a letter to all 
that you would care to take a position with. 

Watch closely the trade papers of your profes¬ 
sion. First class opportunities are often advertised. 

If you have difficulty in getting a comprehensive 
list of the concerns with which you desire employ¬ 
ment, insert an advertisement in the “ Situations 
Wanted” columns of the trade paper that reaches the 
largest number of prospective employers. The ad¬ 
vertisement shown here is a good style to follow. 




S. ROLAND HALL 


167 


Try to give employers a demonstration of yonr 
ability. If, for instance, you are a draftsman, 

a Practical ma k e a good drawing and send with each 
Demonstration letter a blueprint from this drawing, 
of Ability This is practical and will distinguish 
your application. It is worth while to make a special 
drawing relating to the business of the manufac¬ 
turer to whom the application is made, if you can do 
that to even a limited extent. A manufacturer of 
automobiles and launches will naturally be more in¬ 
terested in a good drawing of part of a modern gas 
engine or a propellor than he would be in the draw¬ 
ing of a piece of farm machinery. 

Do you read the technical journals that relate to 
your chosen work? Do you realize that your edu¬ 
cation did not end when you received your diploma 
and do you continue to study the best new text¬ 
books? Tell the employer that you do. 

Have you ever worked out any better manufac¬ 
turing methods, improved office practice, or made 
economies of any kind? Mention them. 

Have you had any office experience? Are you a 
good organizer? Can you get out work on time? 
Can you manage other people and get their best ser¬ 
vice? These are all-important considerations, and if 
you excel in all or any of them, don’t leave it to the 
employer to guess that you do; it’s a case of “speak 
for yourself, John.” 

The young graduate should use judgment in his 
letter of application and in his interviews about em¬ 
phasizing the matter of his education. The larger 
concerns are likely to regard graduation from a tech¬ 
nical school of good repute as prima facie evidence of 
competency so far as a good foundation is concerned; 


168 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


but not all of the practical details of engineering are 
taught in technical schools, nor half of them; and the 
young man whose head has been turned by his school 
training—who feels it beneath his dignity to start at 
the bottom of a ladder that he may climb quickly—is 
in danger of being turned down hard. 

Don’t, by reason of over-confidence or over-valu¬ 
ation of your technical training, neglect the careful 
preparation for the interview that other applicants 
make. Too often the technical man is positively slov¬ 
enly in appearance, and this carelessness in dress may 
prove to be a serious handicap. He is not expected 
to be dressed in the careful style of the clothing 
salesman, but he has everything to gain and nothing 
to lose by appearing before prospective employers in 
well fitting clothes and clean linen. 

Technical men are obliged to spend so much time 
in acquiring their technical training that their knowl¬ 
edge of English suffers. Employers say that there 
are few good letter writers among technical appli¬ 
cants. 

It is an excellent idea to have an acquaintance 
read your letter and criticize it; but if you cannot 
do this, at least have the letter typewritten neatly. 


CHAPTER XXV 


HOW TO WORK UP THROUGH THE RANKS 

BY H. A. WORMAN 

Former Manager Employment Department , National Cash 

Register Co. 

The vital study for the employee is to learn 
everything touching his position quickly and thor¬ 
oughly, to adapt himself as nearly as lies in his power 
to the demands made on him, to catch the pace of the 
workers about him, be it fast or slow, and to ac¬ 
commodate himself in every thought and action to the 
standards of the department as he finds it. 

Teamwork of the sort expected of a football 
substitute should be his first objective. Criticism of 
methods, suggestions for the improvement of his own 
immediate process, ambition and curiosity about other 
features or functions of the organization must v»ait 
until he has satisfied the department requirements 
and fitted himself without jar into the machine. The 
more readily and easily he does this, the better will 
be the impression he makes on the head and on his fel¬ 
low employees—the latter immensely important fea¬ 
tures in realizing any ambitions he may indulge. If 
his work be complicated or out of the ordinary, the 
intelligence and alertness he exhibits in laying hold 
of it will count heavily in his favor—but the crucial 
consideration is his ability to adjust himself readily 
to his place and eliminate speedily the friction bound 
to show when a new man is broken in, 

169 


170 


EMPLOYER and employee 


One thing to fear and forestall is the assumption 
that duties seemingly beneath your usual plane of 
performance are unworthy of study and careful at¬ 
tention. Your employer did not hire you for your 
minimum or mechanical capacity, but for the quali¬ 
ties he saw in you. Give him your best, therefore, 
not merely because he expects it and may dismiss 
you unless you deliver it, but because there is no other 
way of dodging mental dry-rot or of making good 
your claim to more interesting work and wider op¬ 
portunities. Look at yourself, accordingly, from his 
viewpoint—in this case the viewpoint of the man im¬ 
mediately over you—size up your work with his eyes, 
find the flaws in your performance and eliminate 
them in the future. Remember that what you do is 
only a little more important than how you do it. Ex¬ 
amine yourself for faults of manner, lack of self-con¬ 
trol, self-confidence, self-knowledge in meeting emer¬ 
gencies. 

After you have acquired perfect knowledge of 
the things expected of you and proved your capacity 

Getting Knowi- to accom Pli s h them according to the 
edge of Com- company’s methods, it is time to study 
pany Methods them with the idea of improvement. 

Company methods, in all but the most unprogressive 
houses, are generally the result of much experiment, 
and the very scheme which you evolve may have been 
discarded as faulty six months or a year before. 
Clear understanding of the method you propose to 
change is necessary, then, not only in itself, but in its 
relation to all other attendant or complementary pro¬ 
cesses before an intelligent suggestion can be offered. 
This understanding is the fruit of study and obser¬ 
vation, and department heads and foremen are 


II. A. WORMAN 


171 


likely to resent a new man’s meddling with things 
they feel he cannot grasp as they do. Frequently 
the new man is right; bringing a fresh mind and an 
unprejudiced view to analysis of the process in ques¬ 
tion, he may have hit on its essential weakness. But 
since his opinion is bound to be discredited, common 
prudence dictates that he shall suppress it until he 
shall have established himself in the department, 
gained the confidence of the head, and the men about 
him have ceased thinking of him as a stranger. Then 
his proposal will get a fair hearing, perhaps be adopted, 
and if the “boss” is the sort who gives credit where 
credit is due, the new man may win his first promo¬ 
tion by what would have been a source of irritation 
a month before. 

Mastering your own specialty, then, turn to the 
other places open to you in the department. Be 

Caution in honest with yourself in estimating your 
Changing to abilities and guard against underrating 
Other Work the brain power, education and training 

demanded by the positions which seem attractive to 
you. If necessary, ask some man you trust, perhaps 
your foreman or department head, to give you his 
advice as to the qualities you possess and the field 
in which you can make greatest progress. The grass 
in the other fellow’s pasture always seems greener 
and more succulent, but caution is a virtue when it 
comes to changing jobs, except in the natural line of 
promotion. Experience always commands a larger 
price than theoretical knowledge; and in jumping 
abruptly from one occupation to another you risk 
your own career, for a house loses confidence in a 
man who fails in a more responsible position, and us¬ 
ually refuses to transfer him back to the work he 


172 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


abandoned. -For every failure, like every discharge, 
is a black mark which depreciates your market value. 

Excess of conservatism is just as serious an 
error in a man of ability. Don’t hesitate to take pro¬ 
motion when it is thrown in your way, even though 
the new duties loom formidable in the light of what 
you have done in the past and your own idea of your 
capacities. If the department head who offers it to 
you has the reputation of choosing his subordinates 
wisely, if his record is not spotted with conspicuous 
instances of faulty judgment, accept his valuation as 
that of a disinterested outside mind and, after can¬ 
vassing the demands which will be made on you, take 
the place and bend all your energies to mastering it 
and administering it efficiently. 

Prepare for the lightning before it strikes, how¬ 
ever. When you have “made good” in your first po¬ 
sition, begin a serious study of the company’s his¬ 
tory, its policies, its methods, its machinery and prod¬ 
uct. For, whether you are a factory or an office 
worker, you cannot know too much about the busi¬ 
ness, if you are careful not to let your interest in 
its larger aspects eclipse your attention to your every¬ 
day duties. Take your own department, section by 
section, learn the systems by which the work of each 
is carried on, the meaning of every record, the pur¬ 
pose of every function. So far as you can, without 
appearing a busybody, find out what every man in 
the department does. Most of them will be glad to 
talk about their duties during the noon hour or even¬ 
ings. Compare their activities with your own; an¬ 
alyze the equipment which each brings to his place; 
try to find out for yourself what training each man 
has had, what qualities the department generally or 


PI. A. WORMAN 


173 


the “boss” values in him. When you have finished 
your survey of the department, you should be able 
to decide whether the better position you are looking 
for exists inside the department, or whether you will 
have to go outside to find it. 

If some one place appeals to you, measure your¬ 
self as to your fitness to take it. If you find you haven’t 
„ the education or the training essential to 
Training for securing it, set soberly to work in the 
New Lines evenings to acquire the knowledge or skill 
which you lack. Your quest may carry you into the 
night classes of some trade school—if you are for¬ 
tunate enough to find employment in one of the few 
centers boasting trade schools—into a business col¬ 
lege, or into the excellent technical and business 
courses offered by Y. M. C. A. schools in many cities 
or by the reputable correspondence schools. 

Many companies—the most progressive in the 
country—provide night classes at the factory which 
furnish instruction in the specialties for which there 
is greatest demand and least supply in the organi¬ 
zation. These classes range from stenography and 
typewriting to salesmanship and virtual apprentice¬ 
ships in some of the simpler trades and machine 
operations used in the factory. They open the path 
of advancement to truckers and handy men in the 


factory, to messengers and clerks in the office di¬ 
visions—and give to men in both ends of the business 
an opportunity to fit themselves for more congenial 
work than at the moment they are doing. 

After the departmental survey—according to its 
size, it may take months or even years to familiarize 
yourself with all its functions—turn to the associated 
departments and study the relations they bear to your 


174 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


own, the system of transfers and communications, the 
part which each bears in the whole scheme of mak¬ 
ing and selling the company’s product, in keeping 
track of orders and output. Remember that the more 
you know about the company’s methods and prod¬ 
ucts, the more likely you are to receive promotion; 
the more closely you are in touch with conditions in 
your own department and those connected with it, 
the larger the number of opportunities which come 

to you to better yourself. 

Both in factory and office, two lines of promotion 
are open to the unskilled or semi-skilled man of in¬ 
telligence. He can either set himself 
of Advance to HlclStGr El spGClEllty tllG llcillCly ULclIl 
That Are Open concentrating on the training needful to 
a mechanic or tool-maker, the clerk taking up short¬ 
hand or accounting—or he can acquire such knowl¬ 
edge of one process or group of processes ip his shop 
or office that his selection as job foreman or head 
clerk, assistant foreman or assistant department head, 
becomes a foregone conclusion. 

Cultivate the habit of work. There is no other 
way to force your progress upward, to fit your¬ 
self for advancement when a vacancy higher up pre¬ 
sents itself as someone’s opportunity. The man who 
applies himself willingly, cheerfully, intelligently to 
the task in hand is continuing the processes of his ed¬ 
ucation day by day and is turning what otherwise 
might be deadly, mind-dwarfing routine into a means 
of mental discipline. Education differs from train¬ 
ing—in trade and industry—in that it means general 
broadening, strengthening and schooling of the mind 
to take on the unpleasant with the pleasant as part 
of the day’s work, to accept responsibilities as in- 


H. A. WORM AN 


175 


separable from personal progress; while training 
suggests the development of skill and dexterity in 
execution. 

In business, most of us are plodders and we have 
a hearty respect and admiration for the fellow who 

Discovering will se ^ 3 aw anc ^ mas t er each job as 
A Man’s it comes to him, whether it seem un- 

Reliability worthy or be merely difficult. Indeed, 
the companies which have realized the necessity of 
developing executives as part of the house policy, 
instead of trusting to the haphazard operation of 
natural selection, frequently make test of an em¬ 
ployee’s mettle and industry by putting him in a 
place which either affords nothing to interest him 
or makes unusual demands on his capacity to as¬ 
similate new matter, co-ordinate its elements and or¬ 
ganize a system for handling the operations involved. 
What they seek to discover is his dependability, and 
since the employee never knows when his trial is on, 
his only safety lies in performing every undertaking 
or piece of drudgery loaded upon him as though it 
were the one important thing in the world. 

Indeed, for any man of character, it is the one 
serious thing in life. He has, in reality, two em¬ 
ployers—the man on whose payroll he figures and 
himself. He may deceive his “boss,” but, unless his 
case is hopeless, he can’t fool the inward mentor that 
asks or ought to ask, “Have I done an honest day’s 
work today?” Pour employees in five never hear 
this question, for they conceive labor only as the 
means by which they earn bread, plus a scanty al¬ 
lowance of cake. They are the real “wage slaves,” 
and their bondage will endure until they wake up to 
the twin facts that work is the only means of growth 


176 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


open to men, and that it fulfills the scriptural curse 
or becomes worth while—in itself and in its rewards 
—when they bring their best thoughts, their fullest 
energies, their finest intelligence to its execution. 

Gaining the confidence of the house is an es¬ 
sential to promotion. All executive positions involve 
_ . .. confidential relations with the firm, from 

Securing the 7 

Confidence of job foremen and assistant heads on up 
Employers scale, but there are many places in 

both office and factory where trade or business secrets 
are in the keeping of men distinguished only by their 
skill. Stenographers, accountants, experimental work¬ 
ers and the men who work behind the closed doors 
of the departments, where secret processes are carried 
on, must all have proved their loyalty and discre¬ 
tion before they are given these positions of trust. 

How may the confidence of the firm be gained? 
First be a company man. Make the company’s busi¬ 
ness your personal business. Learn all you can with¬ 
out seeming unduly prying or curious. Begin by es¬ 
tablishing your reputation for punctuality—in the ad¬ 
ministration of a large organization this one quality 
is always insisted upon, since a few minutes’ tardi¬ 
ness of any one man may delay the start of a whole 
section, and minutes easily multiply into hours. 

Adaptability is another virtue to cultivate, par¬ 
ticularly if you have no special skill to offer. The 
all-around “company man” who tackles any job 
which is thrust on him, and makes a fair average 
of success in each, has opened up a path straight to 
the front office. Ability and adaptability are almost 
synonymous terms. The talent or knowledge which 
cannot be harnessed directly to the business strikes 
the general manager in search of a superintendent or 


II. A. WORMAN 


177 


department head as of little value, almost as a fault 
in the man he wants to promote. Having charge 
of the whole business, he has not time himself to, 
devote to side issues, civic or social activities, and 
he is likely to resent such a draft on the brain power 
of his subordinates. 

Loyalty and integrity need hardly be cataloged 
as qualities of character essential to the winning of 
the employer’s confidence. The worker who cannot 
give himself whole-heartedly to the services of the 
company employing him, is misplaced, and will never 
attain his fullest source of usefulness and personal 
efficiency until he finds the place with which he is in 
thorough sympathy. 

At the same time, the employer’s aims and meth¬ 
ods may be misunderstood, or the man’s personal 
standards may all be wrong. He should take seri¬ 
ous thought before he leaves a firm, and try to de¬ 
termine whether it is he or the house that is to blame. 
If he remains, he owes it to his employer to give him 
honest service—to do the work for which he is hired 
to the best of his ability—to be a company man as 
long as he accepts the company’s pay checks. Nor 
should he leave his loyalty at the office or factory, if 
he expects loyalty and fair treatment from the com¬ 
pany in return. Gossip about the house’s affairs, 
criticism of its policies, silence when its methods or 
the sincerity of its aims are questioned, are all 
looked on as breaches of faith by the employee who 
is looking for promotion. 

Summed up, the “square deal” in all his rela¬ 
tions with the house must be the fixed rule of con¬ 
duct of the employee who wants to climb—and climb¬ 
ing is the only exercise worth while in business. 


CHAPTER XXVI 

SELF-TRAINING FOR A HEAD BOOKKEEPER’S 

POSITION 

BY CHARLES A. SWEETLAND 

Consulting Accountant , Author of the Science of Loose-Leaf 

Bookkeeping and Accounting 

There was a time, not many years ago, when 
the head bookkeeper of an establishment was merely 
a senior clerk, doing practically the same work as 
the other bookkeepers and distinguished only by his 
length of service or his gray hair. The direction 
of the accounts and the inauguration of improve¬ 
ments were in the hands of his employers. That time 
has passed away. Now the head bookkeeper is a real 
executive, the organizer of his own department, the 
harmonizer of methods, and the adviser of the offi¬ 
cers of the company. This change has come about 
with the transition of accounting from a mere record- 
function to a vital part of the governing proc¬ 
esses of business. The bookkeeper who wishes to 
remain an automaton, copying figures from reports 
into a book, is not a part of this new regime. If he 
secures and holds a position in some accounting office 
he is passed by the progressive men, the students 
of modern methods, the men with executive ability. 
For only with these qualifications can a bookkeeper 
hope to fit himself for the position of head account¬ 
ant. 


178 


CHARLES A. SWEETLAND 


179 


If you are employed in an up-to-date office, no 
matter what particular books may be put in your 
charge, your chance for promotion to the manage¬ 
ment of the office will depend on three things: your 
willingness to work, your keenness to grasp new 
branches of the work, and your constant study of 
improved methods. These traits are very closely 
dependent on each other. 

Willingness to work is, of course, the first 
requisite for promotion in any line, but with book¬ 
keeping it has a deeper significance. The beginners 
in an accounting department are generally restricted 
to one or two books, to which they must transfer 
totals from the reports and communications turned 
over to them. They have little opportunity to get 
a large view of the workings of their department, to 
know how their particular books fit into the work 
done by other men and to analyze the whole process 
of accounting. 

If you are willing to help other men without 
expecting overtime allowances for every minute ex¬ 
pended, you will find frequent opportunities to lend 
a hand at times when your associates or superiors are 
crowded with work. Thus you will not only impress 
the management as a man who can be relied upon, 
and a valuable man to have in the office, but you will 
secure many opportunities for study of methods em¬ 
ployed throughout the office, broadening your knowl¬ 
edge and experience in the books of this particular es¬ 
tablishment. 

You will also come in contact with the men who 
are doing the responsible work of your department, 
who have themselves progressed through the use of 
modern methods and the exercise of initiative. 


180 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


Without a keen and acute mind, trained to grasp 
the meaning of unfamiliar entries and quick to per- 
„ „ , ceive opportunities for simplifying ac- 

ment of Mental counts, you cannot use to good advan- 
Acuteness tage ^ iese opportunities for study. How 

can you develop this trait? It depends a good deal, 
of course, on the man. You can’t put a brain into a 
turnip. But if you have reasonable aptness for ac¬ 
counting you can cultivate your ability just as the 
musician can improve his ear for harmony, or the 
cashier can develop his ability to detect counterfeit 
money. 

Study and practice are the ways of training 
yourself along this line, and both of these require 
work. Attendance at baseball games may give you 
keenness in detecting an inshoot or an error, but it 
will never make a head bookkeeper of you. Spend 
your leisure time in working out difficult problems 
of accounting. You can develop your mind so that 
in a short time these things will come to you easily. 

Facility in bookkeeping is like ease in speaking 
a foreign language—it comes through practice. I 
was talking with a brother expert accountant the 
other day, who illustrated a point in his conversation 
by making several imaginary ledger entries on a 
sheet of paper. Then lie carefully footed the three 
columns. His example would have answered the 
purpose exactly as well if he had set down a hap¬ 
hazard total, but his mind was so trained to accurate 
work and responded so quickly to the mathematical 
impulse that he never thought of putting down any 
figures but the correct sum. He had trained himself 
through long practice, outside of working hours at 
his desk, to respect mathematical relations. 


CHARLES A. SWEETLAND 


181 


Your knowledge of modern methods may be 
gained from outside study, as well as from talking 
and working with the progressive men in your office. 
Keep abreast of the times by reading the literature 
of your profession: magazine articles and books. 
Attend the conventions, where new ideas are brought 
forward and discussed. Take a good correspondence 
course in accounting, not to learn the rudiments of 
bookkeeping, but to get descriptions of modern appli¬ 
cations of those principles. The presidents of three 
well established business colleges are, to my knowl¬ 
edge, following such courses because they know that 
they must have every improvement in methods which 
can be learned. 

The bookkeeper who can reorganize his depart¬ 
ment so that the work can be done with one man 
less, or who can reduce the time of taking a trial 
balance, is the employee who is most eligible for pro¬ 
motion. Ninety per cent of the bookkeepers through¬ 
out this country are clinging to old methods. The 
small minority who progress are the men whose work 
and ideas you should study. 

These suggestions have presupposed that you 
are employed as a subordinate clerk in some large 
_ „ „ and well organized office: for there the 

Offices as Train- position of chief accountant will be the 
mg Schools most desirable. Yet your training if 
begun in such an office, will be of a very specialized 
nature: you will be set to work on one or two books 
instead of having a share in all the transactions of 
the office, as you would in a small establishment. 

You must choose between the two alternatives. For 
a man without training, a few years’ experience in 
general work would be of advantage in grounding 


182 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


yon in all the accounting processes. Then when you 
have learned all that such a position can teach, you 
would do well to seek a position in the office of a 
large concern, to work up again through the ranks, 
specializing more in the various processes, studying 
details which have hitherto been outside of your ex¬ 
perience, and learning how to handle complicated 
accounts. The best candidate for head bookkeeper 
is a man who has studied the whole field of account¬ 
ing and then has turned his attention to learning 
details in each branch. 


CHAPTER XXVII 

THE MAKING OP A CREDIT MANAGER 

BY G. WILLIAM BARNUM 

The making of credits is the conservative force 
which governs all the selling operations of a house. 
It restrains the sales department from taking orders 
haphazard from all who will buy and in any amount. 
It transforms a reckless ambition to get rid of the 
goods of the house into an orderly effort to secure 
responsible patrons for the firm and nourish their buy¬ 
ing ability. 

This has led to a traditional attitude of hostility on 
the part of salesmen toward the credit manager, for 
is not he the man who cuts down their large orders, 
and lops off the new customers from their list? Such 
a feeling is founded on a misunderstanding of the 
relations between the credit and sales departments, 
for in no two branches of a business can more profitable 
co-operation be secured, and no man in the employ of a 
house has a better opportunity to work up to the credit 
manager’s position than a traveling salesman. 

If you are a salesman and wish to secure a posi¬ 
tion in the credit department, with a view of be¬ 
coming later the credit manager of your house, the 
best chances which you can find anywhere to show 
your ability and to gain valuable experience will be 
in connection with your daily work, and without in¬ 
terruption of your regular duties. 

183 


184 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


You are the only representative of your house 
who comes directly in contact with the customer. Per- 
, , haps you are the only one who has ever 

Opportunities visited that town. You are theiefore 
to Learn Details p e ^ er able than anyone else to give the 

credit manager information regarding the customer’s 
location, his seeming prosperity, the business con¬ 
ditions of the town, and all the other factors which 
should be considered in making credits. No man is 
more willing to recognize this advantage than the 
credit manager, and any information that you vol¬ 
unteer will be given careful consideration. 

When you take your first order from a man, ask 
him if he is willing to tell you the firms he buys 
from. This is a customary proceeding, and he will 
give three or four names without hesitation; yet you 
w r ill notice on his shelves several other lines of 
goods, the names of which he does not mention. 
The chances are that the firms he mentions are those 
which he pays promptly, and which will therefore 
give him the best references. Write these names 
down as “references offered.” Then add the names 
of the other firms whose lines you notice, under the 
heading “other lines carried.” The credit man¬ 
ager will pay more attention to these last names 
than to the first, and will give you credit for your 
discerning judgment. 

Such information as this you can gain on every 
trip. If Smith’s trade seems to be increasing, write 
the credit manager a note about it in connection with 
your larger order for goods. If Jones is giving up 
part of his floor space/ or Brown is involved in an 
unsavory case at law, or Green is moving to a side 
street, mention the fact in your next letter. 


G. WILLIAM BARNUM 


185 


Some salesmen in every house practically make 
their own credits, although they do not know it. The 
information they send in shows they know the prin¬ 
ciples of credit making, and their judgment of a 
man’s standing and ability is so often correct that 
the credit manager comes to accept their opinions 
for lack of better data. Do not imagine that a man 
who tells his honest opinion of his customers, even 
when it must be unfavorable, is thereby the means 
of cutting down his own sales. On the contrary, 
when a credit manager finds that he can depend on 
a salesman’s information, he will accept ten per cent 
more of that man’s sales than he could if he thought 
the orders were taken without the use of good judg¬ 
ment. 

Beginning to secure the attention of the credit 
manager in this way, you will soon be asked to look 
__ .. _ . up an overdue collection in your terri- 
lections on a tory. Here will come the opportunity 
Regular Trip exerc i se tact and judgment. A sales¬ 
man of my acquaintance who wanted to leave the 
road, made just such a request from the house his 
entering wedge for admission to the credit depart¬ 
ment. He made the collection and wrote the credit 
manager that he would be glad to handle any similar 
accounts in his territory. On his next trip he paid 
all his expenses from the proceeds of old accounts 
that had long before been charged to profit and 
loss. Soon he was made a traveling adjuster, with 
discretionary power to settle for what he could get 
in difficult cases; and he was relieved of all his sell¬ 
ing duties except to call on a few of his best cus¬ 
tomers. Before long his w r ork in and out of the office 
required so much of his time that he was obliged 


186 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


to give up all his customers, and was henceforth used 
wholly in the credit department. 

That man could not be kept out of the credit 
department. He was a good salesman, but he had 
also the rarer qualifications which fitted him for a 
credit man. He used his opportunities as they came 
to him, and made others, and his work after he de¬ 
termined to get an office position was a direct line 
of progress toward the credit department. 

With such a start as this, a man should use every 
opportunity to compare his judgment on credits with 
that of more experienced men. Seek an opportunity 
to review the information gathered regarding a cus¬ 
tomer and pass your own judgment before the matter 
comes to the eyes of the credit manager. Then you 
can observe what conditions influence him more than 
they influence you, and can correct your judgment 
at the next opportunity, for you must realize that the 
successful credit manager has reasons for his deci¬ 
sion, even if they are not apparent at once. 

If you can talk convincingly and tactfully, you 
should be able to write in the same strain, but in 

How to Develop order to develo P y° ur correspondence 
Ability in ability, secure from some credit man- 
Correspondence a g er? y 0ur own or another firm’s, a set 

of letters that he would ordinarily write asking for 
a financial statement, setting a credit limit, or re¬ 
ducing an order. Study these letters until they be¬ 
come a part of yourself—until you can write as tact¬ 
ful letters as your credit manager, or better. 

These qualifications are a gradual outgrowth 
from a salesman’s equipment. Starting with his 
ability to handle men and situations, his knowledge 
of geographical conditions and of the personnel of 


G. WILLIAM BARNUM 


187 


the customers, add a knowledge of the essential points 
in making credits, sound judgment, and a feeling of 
responsibility, and he may hope to become eligible 
to the credit manager’s position. 

The other side of the shield is presented by the 
qualifications of the office man who has ambitions 
to enter the credit department. The same knowledge 
and training are necessary in each case, but the of¬ 
fice man starts with a different foundation. He 
must learn the things that the salesman knew; and 
many of the lessons that are hardest for the sales¬ 
man to learn are the easiest for him. 

In the well organized office, every member of the 
force is an assistant to the credit manager. From 
entry clerk to head bookkeeper, all contribute some¬ 
thing to the work of making credits. Every order, 
before it reaches the desk of the credit man, is sum¬ 
marized, the customer’s terms and ratings are noted 
upon it, a comparison of this order with his pur¬ 
chases of last year and the present condition of his 
account are looked up. This is the work of entry 
clerks, order clerks, bookkeepers and file clerks. 
Each man, as the document passes through his hands, 
not only adds to it his own data, but has an oppor¬ 
tunity to learn the facts already noted, and can fa¬ 
miliarize himself with the whole process. Every re¬ 
port from a commercial agency is read and the im¬ 
portant points checked before it reaches the manager. 

If your work is to perform some of these routine 
duties, do not let the mechanical operation blind you 
to the significance of the process. Two accounts are 
not treated alike. Why not? Study out the reason 
why you must write “30 days net, collect sharp” 
on Brown’s order, and “6 months” on Cook’s. 


188 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


Your study of accounting methods should be 
thorough, in addition to accumulating this outside in¬ 
formation, for the whole work of the credit man 
hinges upon accounts: they are the vital point in his 
relations with the customer, and one of his sources 
of information regarding the customer’s condition. 
To understand a financial statement from a customer, 
you must understand its terms and be able to detect 
any effort at deception. 

While you are gaining this experience in ac¬ 
counting methods, do not forget that by itself it 

wr t will be inadequate preparation'for credit 

what the 

Accountant work. It does not show you how to get 
Must Learn credit information first hand; it does not 

train you to flexibility of temperament in dealing 
with customers. These things you must learn in 
addition. In fact, if you specialize too far in ac¬ 
counting, your mathematical instinct is likely to be 
overdeveloped. The bookkeeper knows that the 
sum of five and three is eight. The answer must 
come at once, without question. The credit man¬ 
ager, on the other hand, must realize that five plus 
three may sometimes equal seven plus one—the one 
now and the seven later. In other words, you must 
learn to handle successfully the human element in 
your accounts, to lead instead of drive, to win by 
tact rather than to attempt blunt demands. 

You should secure a transfer to the collection 
department after you have spent three or four years 

Collecting as * n aceoun ti n &* This work will enable 
a Means of you to meet people and to study the 

Training methods of approach necessary in dif¬ 

ferent cases. It will give you a wide knowledge of 
the territory your goods cover and the business con- 


G. WILLIAM BARNIJM 


189 


ditions to be met in various localities: the points 
which the salesman learned before his period of 
office training began. 

Study models of correspondence in the same 
way as the salesman. Train your judgment in mak¬ 
ing credits by experimenting on the accounts that 
come in. 

The qualifications necessary for credit work are 
the same, whether you start as salesman or as office 
man. Learn the things that come in the regular 
course of your work, grow into larger responsibilities 
and make yourself indispensable in credit work; you 
will thereby compel promotion in your own house 
or command recommendation to an opening else¬ 
where. 


CHAPTER XXVIII 


PREPARATION FOR THE WORK OF A PUR¬ 
CHASING AGENT 

BY F. LANCASTER 

Purchasing Agent, Goodman Manufacturing Company 

How to become a purchasing agent is a much 
more complicated problem than merely to gain prac¬ 
tice in beating down the salesman a fraction of a 
cent from his original prices. Many people think 
that the buyer’s sole qualification is ability to se¬ 
cure discounts and cut rates, but in reality he re¬ 
quires as much special training as the most spe¬ 
cialized expert in the establishment. 

The faculty for securing good prices is, of 
course, a very important qualification, but it is the 
final point in a buyer’s equipment, and is the result 
of a long period of training and the development of 
good judgment. A purchasing agent who gains his 
position because he is able to invest money with the 
company, but who has no previous training in buy¬ 
ing and no knowledge of the materials which he has 
to purchase, is likely to spend half a day getting 
some salesman to lower his price and then think he 
has made an excellent bargain. But in reality his 
clerk, who is never heard in a buying transaction, 
would make a much better purchasing agent than 
himself, because the clerk has gained knowledge of 
the elementary principles of buying through keep- 

190 


F. LANCASTER 


191 


ing the records of the department and receiving 
from the shop superintendent the estimate of ma¬ 
terial wanted. 

It is the preliminary training that counts. One 
who has grown up in the department or has been 
transferred from some other branch of the business 
because of his knowledge of materials and processes, 
is the best candidate for the purchasing agent’s posi¬ 
tion. 


There are several channels through which this 
information may be secured. You may be a cost 

The Positions clerk > ° r a stock clerk > 0r ma ^ occl W 
That Train some position which brings you in con- 

for Buying stant communication with the purchasing 
department, such as voucher clerk or assistant audi¬ 
tor. In these various lines your chances to learn 
the essentials of buying are equally favorable. 

In the cost department, you receive from the 
shops detailed information regarding costs of manu¬ 
facturing. Materials are as important factors in 
these figures as is the cost of labor. The amount 
of bar steel, and of brass castings, and of any other 
materials, and the costs of each are recorded. 

Do more than merely copy these figures on a 
cost card. Study the quality, the size and the prices 
of every part as you record it. Find out why and 
where it is used and how much of it is consumed. 

This same information, to a great extent, you 
can secure if you are a clerk in the stock department. 
You can become familiar with every kind of material 
and every completed part which is used by your 
house. You should notice, in addition, how large a 
stock is kept on hand—what are the minimum and 
maximum limits, and how much is used periodically. 


192 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


You can examine the materials closely, studying their 
quality until you can tell whether a new lot con¬ 
tains substitutions or is of inferior grade. As a 
clerk in the accounting department your duties in 
handling invoices and accounts will give you famil¬ 
iarity with materials and prices, if you use your 
opportunities. Every bill for goods passes through 
your hands. Notice the sources of material, the pre¬ 
vailing market prices at different seasons, the 
amounts bought and the usual terms of purchase. 

Through any of these branches, therefore, you 
can secure the elementary information which the 
purchasing agent needs. But the most needed quali¬ 
fication of all, knowledge of the uses of materials 
and the processes of manufacture, you must secure 
by study of the shops. At every opportunity get 
close to the producing end of the business. When 
you run across the name of an unfamiliar material, 
trace it down, see what it is used for and what is 
its superiority over other materials. 

This equipment of knowledge and experience, 
coupled with a known ambition for working in the 
purchasing department, should result in securing 
your transfer to that office as an assistant, where 
you will be able to keep in closer touch with the 
orders and study their relations with each other, and 
where you can observe the methods used. 

Tou have now secured half of the training you 
need in knowledge of materials—you know how they 

Knowledge of are usec ^- The other half is to know 
the Sources how they are made, what firms have the 
of Supply best facilities for manufacturing them 
and what firms are most likely to be able and anxious 
to fill your orders quickly. This knowledge you can 


F. LANCASTER 


193 


gain to a great extent through acquaintance with 
the salesmen who come into the office. If you es¬ 
tablish friendly relations with them, you can secure 
many a profitable conversation, and often may ob¬ 
tain invitations to visit their plants. 

Soon you will add to your previous store of 
information what the salesman knows about his own 
goods. Moreover you will be able to gain knowledge 
not only of his line, but of the lines of his competi¬ 
tors. Knowing the uses of the material and the wants 
of your own plant, you can study the comparative 
facilities of the competing houses for furnishing what 
you need. 

The next and last requirement is the possession 
of tact, and a knowledge of human nature. The 
successful buyer is successful not only because of his 
knowledge of goods, of processes and of prevailing 
prices, but because he can command the respect and 
good will of the men with whom he does business. 
Such relations will result in low prices and special 
favors for your firm; will insure prompt shipments 
and strict adherence to specifications. Cultivate 
these relations as you come in contact with salesmen 
through your work in the purchasing agent’s office, 
and thus equip yourself to fill a vacancy or to take 
a position as purchasing agent for another house. 


CHAPTER XXIX 

TRAINING FOR SALESMANSHIP 

BV W. A. WATERBURY 
Sales Manager, The A. B. Dick Company 

The fundamental qualifications a young man 
must have who expects to become a salesman are 
ambition and a level head. There has been a great 
deal of talk about salesmen being born. It isn’t 
the salesmanship that is born in a man, it is the 
natural ability which develops into salesmanship. 

The place to start your training for salesman¬ 
ship is the place you are filling at the present time. 
You must, of course, have a fair education to begin 
with—enough to enable you to talk with intelligence 
on a variety of subjects, and enough to make you 
quick at understanding a situation. With this foun¬ 
dation, and the qualities of ambition and common 
sense which have already been mentioned, you can 
work up to a salesman’s position through any work 
in which you happen to be engaged. Probably the 
two most favorable channels, however, are experi¬ 
ence as a correspondent and stenographer, or as a 
clerk in the stock room. 

The every day work of the correspondent or 
stenographer is practical experience in selling goods, 
because almost every sale that is made, even through 
a salesman, must at some time or other find its way 
into the correspondence of the house. Stenography 

194 


W. A. AVATERBURY 


195 


is the natural stepping stone to a higher position, 
and especially to the position of salesman. By writ¬ 
ing about all the business transactions of the house 
you naturally gain a broad knowledge of the policy 
of the business, and should become familiar not only 
with the products but also with the methods by 
which they are placed upon the market. 

If you hold some clerical position and see no 
chance of working up through another department, 
you should study stenography. A knowledge of the 
art of writing shorthand can be easily acquired, as 
it has been many times, by studying at odd moments. 
There are hundreds of salesmen on the road today, 
who began as office boys and worked up to their 
present positions, by first becoming stenographers: 
As they handled the correspondence, they also studied 
the product and everything connected with the par¬ 
ticular business of their house. 

Even with the knowledge of the products of 
the house gained as a stenographer, you must spend 
some time in the stock room, and as a house sales¬ 
man, before you are eligible to attempt to fill a posi¬ 
tion on the road. Many men who have never had 
office experience go direct from the stock room 
training into the work of a salesman. A successful 
salesman is usually a man who understands every 
detail of work in his house, by practical experience. 

Besides possessing a thorough and wide knowl¬ 
edge of the product or article he has to sell, a man 
„ preparing for work as a salesman 

the Salesman’s should study the art of conversation. You 
Great Need mU st have a good command of the Eng¬ 
lish language. In fact, you must learn to frame 
your sentences so that every word you utter will 


196 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


count for something. Your grammar must be cor¬ 
rect, your pronunciation clear and distinct and your 
manner of speech inspiring. There is only one 
method of winning the confidence of a customer, and 
that is by the way you talk. No sales were ever 
made where the salesman failed to win the pro¬ 
spective customer’s confidence. Every word must 
ring true and explain a man’s meaning clearly. Be¬ 
sides a knowledge of grammar, words, and how to 
handle them correctly, a young man about to go on 
the road must study his competitor’s products. Not 
to talk against them—for attacking a competitor’s 
goods never made a sale—but in order to make clear 
and forcible his own arguments, a salesman must un¬ 
derstand what arguments his competitors would pre¬ 
sent. If a customer brings up a competitor’s line, 
the salesman must understand the weak points in 
the other goods so that he can bring out the strong 
points in his own line. 

The best possible training for any young man 
who aspires to become a salesman is to mix freely 
and thoroughly with men who are his superiors in 
knowledge and wisdom. You should every day strive 
to cultivate some new acquaintance. Make friends 
who will help you/and advertise you and your busi¬ 
ness. You should always seek the society of older 
men in business circles, because their experience is 
their most valuable asset, and you can undoubtedly 
learn many things -without having to go through 
trying and disheartening experiences. Men who have 
had experience in selling know the best methods so 
thoroughly that it is worth any young man’s time 
to learn from them the things he should and should 
not do. These are the men who understand sales- 


W. A. WATERBURY 


197 


manship, not as a theory, but as it really is. And 
from them you can learn valuable lessons, always 
worth remembering and heeding. 

One of the first things you should strive to ac¬ 
quire is self-confidence. You must study your par- 

Confidence ticular line so well that you will have 
and Honesty as the utmost confidence in your ability at 
Qualifications the start. You should be master of your¬ 
self on all occasions if you expect to hold your own 
in competition with unfair methods. You must be 
fair and truthful in all things. To misrepresent your 
product in any respect makes your life as a salesman 
short and unsatisfactory. Study your proposition so 
well that you will never risk being judged unfair, as 
a result of unintentionally misrepresenting things. 

Any young man who expects to make a good 
salesman must have good habits, correct manners, al¬ 
ways be polite and courteous, and have a foundation 
of good sound principles. When you have learned 
to take the knocks and jolts of the world you have 
learned how to enter any commercial battlefield and 
come out victor. You must learn to smile at the in¬ 
sults of ill-natured people, because you will meet 
men who are naturally of a mean disposition, and 
their shortcomings must be overlooked by the man 
out to sell something. 

A salesman’s approach is a matter that depends 
on his personal appearance as well as his opening 
speech. It has been said that appearances are de¬ 
ceiving, but it is much better to have your dress 
make an impression in your favor, rather than against 
you. The first impression is always the most lasting, 
and at the start it is what any salesman must de¬ 
pend upon entirely. The matter of personal appear- 


198 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


ance could be dwelt upon to a great length, but in 
brief it is merely a common sense idea of keeping 
clean and dressing modestly and neatly. The sales¬ 
man who is too conspicuous in his dress, the one who 
goes to extremes in styles, does not appeal to the 
average business man. 

There is a great deal in knowing how to dress 
correctly. You must cultivate tact in the matter of 
personal appearance. You must learn what particu¬ 
lar color or style of clothing becomes you most. 
When you are beginning to sell goods you must 
never neglect your dress or appearance; these fac¬ 
tors count for everything on your initial trip. Your 
customers will always remember you as you first ap¬ 
peared before them. 

The whole secret of the means by which a young 
man may become eligible to a position as traveling 
salesman is to start at the bottom and work his own 
way up by conscientious work, learning the goods 
he is to sell, studying the customers he is to deal 
with and the methods by which he may favorably 
impress them. 



HUGO DIEMER 

Shop Systematizer, Goodman Manufacturing Company 
Author of Chapter on 
“THE RISE OF A CHIEF ENGINEER” 













CHARLES R. WIERS 

Chief Correspondent, Larkin Hoop Company 
Author of Chapter on 

“HOW TO BECOME A CORRESPONDENT” 




CHAPTER XXX 

HOW TO BECOME A CORRESPONDENT 

BY CHARLES R. WIERS 
Chief Correspondent , Larkin Soap Company 

In modern commercial life the correspondent oc¬ 
cupies a powerful position; his field of usefulness 
is so distinct that we may easily define him as the 
most potent factor in promoting and sustaining trade 
relations. 

A letter is expected to show the character of a 
firm; to mirror its policy and its attitude. A man 
must be well trained in the ways of the house to 
write such a letter; he must be educated so that he 
can state a matter clearly and maintain a position 
strongly; and he must be a many sided man to com¬ 
pose a letter that will fit every case like a glove. 

Experience with the house, general education 
and versatility are therefore the three requisites for 
a competent correspondent. 

The first of these requirements makes the posi¬ 
tion of correspondent an especially promising goal 
for a man already in the employ of the firm. Through 
your regular duties, you can learn the policy of the 
house, whether you are connected with the office 
force, the sales department, or any other branch of 
the business. The position of correspondent is one 
to grow into. Most large firms prefer to promote 
one of their office clerks to the place after testing 

199 


200 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


his ability and his knowledge of the business in a 
minor position, rather than to employ an outsider, 
however successful he may have been as a corre¬ 
spondent for other firms. 

The young man who aspires to become a cor¬ 
respondent for his house has therefore an excellent, 
opportunity to develop so that he will be eligible 
for the position. You must be thoroughly familiar 
with the product and the policy of the house and 
thoroughly in sympathy with its methods. These 
are the first steps in preparation. The means for 
taking these steps may be summarized as follows: 

First, become a keen observer, constantly on the 
alert to improve your knowledge of business meth¬ 
ods in general and increase your familiarity with all 
matters that have a direct bearing on your work. 

Second, cultivate a pleasant disposition, domi¬ 
nated by a willingness to assist others, for thereby 
many opportunities for learning will come to you. 

Third, you should develop self-confidence. A 
man who does not believe in himself cannot hoj^e to 
make others believe in him or in what he stands for. 

Fourth, moreover, it is necessary not only to be¬ 
lieve in yourself but also in your employers and in 
the goods they produce or the services they render. No 
man can write enthusiastically and convincingly unless 
he is himself enthusiastic and convinced. 

These are the points in which you have especial 
opportunity to develop yourself by reason of your 

Traits That connection with the house. The other 
Must be requirements of education and versatility 

Acquired you ma y aC q U j re a t the same time if you 

do not already possess them. For although a college 
education will prove helpful to a man by broadening 


CHARLES R. WIERS 


201 


his knowledge and his conception of affairs, it is 
not absolutely necessary. School or college educa¬ 
tion, at its best, will never make a finished cor¬ 
respondent or an acute business man. 

An important part of education is the study of 
human nature. Before any letter can be properly 
answered, it must be dissected until you can read 
between the lines, and discern the attitude, the 
motive and the caliber of the writer. Ability to 
judge of these things not only serves as a guide in 
answering letters diplomatically, but may often as¬ 
sist in reading them, for many men make a miser¬ 
able failure of trying to say what they mean and 
their message can only be interpreted through a 
comprehension of their character. 

Every person with whom correspondence is car¬ 
ried on should receive individual treatment. The 
attitude that will apply to one man might not ap¬ 
ply to another, even though the cases are identi¬ 
cally the same. When reading a letter the cor¬ 
respondent should try to gather therefrom a mental 
picture of the writer and his peculiarities. Such 
knowledge will reveal a line of action by which he 
may present his proposition with a greater degree 
of intelligence. 

Tact and diplomacy are other traits which the 
aspiring correspondent should cultivate, for they are 
necessary in all kind of letters, to all kinds of men. 

It is poor policy to write a letter today that will 
require another a week hence to explain it. It is not 
always required to reveal motives for taking a cer¬ 
tain stand. You should learn to give a logical 
reason for a certain action, providing such will help 
satisfy a customer, Give him the benefit of the doubt 


202 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


and keep him in the light, not in the dark. Say 
whatever you consistently can to please the customer. 
Avoid a dictatorial attitude. The customer usually 
knows what he wants; if his letters indicate that he 
does not, he should be assisted. 

In addition to these traits, a most essential 

qualification is strict honesty. No man can ever 

_ . __ . expect to succeed who tries to deceive 

Strict Honesty . . . 

Essential in his customers, either directly or mdi- 
Correspondence Permanent success is the result 

of practicing honor and strict integrity. All letters 
should adhere rigidly to a truthful presentation of 
the facts. Letters are positive evidence—they can 
be produced at any time. 

You should cultivate the art of writing clearly 
and forcefully. All of an employee’s knowledge and 
experience will be of no value to him as a corre¬ 
spondent if he cannot express his ideas in writing. 

Much difficulty is experienced in correspondence 
work by the obscurity of the meaning intended to 
be conveyed. A phrase or an assertion may be very 
plain to the correspondent and entirely beyond the 
comprehension of the person addressed. If the 
writer’s conception of a matter is clear, he should 
study how he may word his meaning so as to make it 
very plain to his real or prospective customer,. The 
customer is the one who should be conspicuous when 
composing a letter, and to whom the writer should 
cater with scrupulous care. The only feasible way 
to accomplish this is to learn to grasp a situation 
quickly, read between the lines of the letter to be 
answered, and try to imagine the circumstances un¬ 
der which it was written. The writer should forget 
self and devote his best efforts to the other person 


CHARLES R. WIERS 


203 


by using methods and expressions that will accord 
with his temperament and win his favor. Simple 
words carry with them weight and meaning. 

Brevity, according to its use, may be made 
either a constructive or a destructive feature. Busi¬ 
ness men have preached it so carelessly that it is 
somewhat detrimental. Of course, brevity is desired, 
but how, when and where is another story. The 
average correspondent, in trying to be brief, clothes 
his meaning in obscurity. Positive proof of this may 
be readily secured by examining the letters of some 
of our best and largest concerns. Brevity is of two 
classes: courteous and discourteous. Of the former 
the world needs a great deal more, of the latter it 
has had enough. No answer is complete until the 
matter in hand has been covered thoroughly in 
every detail, but even such a letter would not make 
a good impression if the presentation was curt .and 
suggestive of haste. 

A writer should present his case in the fewest 
and choicest words at his disposal. He should study 
to convince the recipient in no uncertain way that 
he deserves and will appreciate his trade. 

Preparation for the duties of a correspondent in¬ 
volves a mastery of these qualifications, but they are 
not difficult to master if one has energy and a 
reasonable education as the basis; and they lead to 
progress and opportunity. 


CHAPTER XXXI 

HOW TO BECOME AN ADVERTISING MAN 

BY WILLIAM D. McJUNKIN 

Advertising Agent 

The most glaring defect in most of the adver¬ 
tising matter now appearing in newspapers and 
magazines is the advertisement writer’s lack of 
familiarity with the goods he is advertising. This 
fact gives men who are today connected with an ad¬ 
vertised business exceptional opportunity to become 
successful advertising men, through their knowledge 
of the firm’s products or services. 

Clerks in great wholesale or retail houses have 
the best possible opportunity for training themselves 
for the advertising field; and there is no doubt in 
my mind that, other things equal, the youth who 
has had actual knowledge of merchandise is far bet¬ 
ter fitted to advertise it than one who comes from 
the outside. In a department store, a youth of the 
right metal can educate himself for department store 
advertising in a manner that would dispense with 
all other training. 

An employee who hopes to fit himself for ad¬ 
vertising work must start with a basis of good gen¬ 
eral education. It is not necessary that you should 
be college bred. A high school education or its 
equivalent will give you the training you need if you 
rightly develop the power of concentrating your 

204 


WILLIAM D. McJUNKIN 


205 


thoughts, the power of expressing them, the ability 
to note things accurately, and the faculty for ab¬ 
sorbing fresh knowledge. With this foundation you 
may learn through your work as a salesman or office 
man the things that are necessary for an advertising 
career. Learn all that you possibly can about the 
goods that come under your hands; procure change 
from department to department until you have the 
whole field under review; in the meantime study the 
advertisements of the store you are connected with 
and of other similar establishments, with a steady 
view to entering the advertising office of the firm; 
and you will have little difficulty in proving to your 
employers that you will be invaluable there. 

A closer view of the qualifications of the adver¬ 
tising man and an insight into methods of self- 
- training may be obtained by examining 
the Adver- the duties that he will have to perform 

Using Man and the conditions he will meet. The 

advertising writer must be quick to appreciate the 
telling points of the article he is exploiting, and to 
do that he must be able to imagine the viewpoint 
of the people he is addressing. As a matter of course, 
you must be able to write pure, clear and vigorous 
English, and possess sufficient versatility to adapt 
your style to the requirements of your readers. You 
must eschew all attempts to be witty or funny or 
“literary.’’ When people go to a store counter to 
buy goods, they do not want expert sallies of wit or 
brilliant conversation from the salesman. They would 
probably be annoyed if the salesman indulged in 
them. Similarly, an advertisement or a circular is 
read for the information it contains, not for the 
amusement it is likely to afford. 


206 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


This is the kind of style which you must culti¬ 
vate in order to make your advertisements readable 
and forceful. There is a call for originality, both 
in thought and expression—constant need for a new 
way of handling an old subject. 

The advertisement writer is generally an assistant 
of the advertising manager, and, as such, is in the 
line of promotion to that position. The manager 
may write little or none of the advertising matter 
which appears daily in the local newspapers under 
the firm’s name, but he must be a past master in the 
art of writing advertisements, and be able to tell at 
a glance whether his assistants are giving him the 
kind of writing which will sell goods. 

To be eligible to the position of advertising man¬ 
ager you must add other qualities to your experience 
as an advertisement writer. Every store has a 
marked style of its own, formed carefully with a 
view to meet the tastes, capacities and demands of 
the people who are its patrons. The sensational for 
cheap bargain hunters—the plain and hearty style 
for the masses—the dignified for the ultra-exclusive 
people. The advertising manager has to maintain 
that style, and must at the same time strive to avoid 
monotony—a feat which is not unattended by diffi¬ 
culties. 

In consultation with the proprietor of the store, 
the manager must devise means for whipping up a 
laggard department of the store, make arrangements 
for advertising special sales, and determine in ad¬ 
vance what departments shall have space, and how 
much space, in each particular newspaper. Proper 
space must be alloted to each department which is 
to offer items for sale. This requires that you know 


WILLIAM D. McJUNKIN 


207 


thoroughly every branch of the business and under¬ 
stand their relative importance, a knowledge which 
you can gain only by spending a good deal of time 
in study of the various departments, and in conver¬ 
sation with the department managers. The adver¬ 
tisement finally must present to the eye a pleasing, 
harmonious appearance, which can be effected only 
through a familiarity with types and illustrations. 

It is obvious that a man to fill such a position 
must possess no ordinary qualifications. You must 

Broad Equip acquire broad and varied knowledge, 
ment Needed possess at least general knowledge of 
for the Work printing and types, have good taste and 

some acquaintance with art, be familiar with the 
process of making halftones, electrotypes, zinc etch¬ 
ings, and so on. You must be able to write clear 
and forcible English, and to detect at a glance flaws 
in the writing of your assistants. You must—and 
this is of even more importance—possess a good gen¬ 
eral knowledge of the merchandise which the store 
handles. Lastly—and this is most important of all— 
you must be a shrewd judge of human nature and of 
a temperament that will enable you to do a vast 
amount of “quick fire” work without becoming 
ruffled or upset. 

The field of agency work lies ahead of the man 
who can handle the advertising of a single establish¬ 
ment. Your training as writer or manager in a retail 
store will fit you to expand your field of operations 
as far as your inclination leads. And the qualifica¬ 
tions for the work lie within reach of every employee 
who is bright and soundly educated and has the 
ability to study the work and products of the es¬ 
tablishment with which he is connected. 


CHAPTER XXXII 

SECURING PROMOTION TO A FOREMANSHIP 

BY HUGO DIEMER 

Shop Systcmatizcr, Goodman Manufacturing Company 

To become some day a director of men, to have 
charge of all the productive processes of a depart¬ 
ment, is the legitimate ambition of every factory 
worker. However skilled in a particular operation 
on which he has spent years of study, he yet hopes 
to graduate from that work into a more responsible 
position in charge of several operations. 

A factory foremanship requires perfection in 
technical training more than many executive posi¬ 
tions. Where an official higher in the ranks is re¬ 
sponsible for good organization of his working force, 
proper discipline, and prompt payment of bills, he 
can hold his subordinates accountable for the proper 
execution of details. A foreman must be both execu¬ 
tive and workman; he must be able to spur work¬ 
men to their best efforts, and also to judge of the 
quality of the output; he is responsible for both or¬ 
ganization and product. 

It is plainly necessary that the first qualification 
of a candidate for foreman is excellence in workman¬ 
ship. A careless or bungling artisan would neither 
be able to inspire his men to good work nor to detect 
imperfections in their product. Aim first, then, to 
perfect yourself in your line of work. Turn out parts 

208 


HUGO DIEMER 


209 


with the fewest defects of any man in the shop; 
make your card show the least waste of material; 
beat the best record ever made by anyone. These 
are the first steps in your progress. 

But good work alone will not fit you for a fore- 
manship. It may bring you an increase of wages, it 
may make you stand high in the estimation of your 
employers; but to this qualification you must add 
others. I have known many an excellent workman, 
capable of a greater output than any foreman we 
ever had, who was bound to remain at his bench or 
lathe all his life because he lacked some essential 
element of managerial ability. Let us see what some 
of these necessary traits are. 

The first one is a sense of responsibility. Too 
many workmen nourish the idea that they must be¬ 
ware lest their employers impose on them. A few 
minutes overtime at night or on Saturday afternoon 
would appear to most men an unjust hardship; yet 
that short time may save the company’s word on a 
promised order, and if you stay willingly and work 
cheerfully, will bring you to the favorable notice of 
your employers. 

A few days ago an order in one of our shops 
which was promised for shipment that night was 

Willingness delayed in the afternoon by a mistake 
to Play the in one process. It could be completed 
Business Game on }y by overtime work. When the word 

went out from the office, the foreman himself was 
not very enthusiastic about staying. Several of the 
men slid out before he saw them.' But one or two 
men stayed. They inquired what time the express 
train left; they studied how tp divide the work 
among themselves so it would be done on time; they 


210 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


hurried back to work from a light lunch; and the 
shipment left on time. Do not imagine that the only 
advantage those men gained was a few hours’ credit 
on the payroll. Their willingness to help in an 
emergency brought them to the notice of their em¬ 
ployers, and now they are marked men. They re¬ 
alized their position as necessary parts of the great 
working organization, responsible for a share in its 
operations; and their very realization of the fact 
made them more necessary to us than they were be¬ 
fore. 

By a feeling of responsibility I do not mean 
“grand stand” plays. The workman who tries to 
step over his foreman’s head in order to attract the 
attention of the higher officials is pretty sure to 
make trouble for himself. The man who cannot take 
orders from any person but the head of the house 
does not commend himself either to the head or to 
the officials whose authority he tries to slight. Do 
your work well, take orders and try to carry them 
out a little better than is expected, be equal to any 
emergency that may arise, and you are following the 
course of conduct that is sure to bring you favorable 
notice. 

The next essential is that you use your brains in 
the execution of every piece of work given you. 

Workmen, not The met bods used by your predecessor 

Machines, may not be so good as some that vou 
are Wanted i . „ 

can work out yourself. The wages of a 

machine are pretty low. Its chances of promotion 

point only toward the scrap heap. Your own wages 

and your own line of progress will be different just 

so far as you prove yourself more than a machine. 

Do not be carried away by an unreasoning desire to 


HUGO DIEMER 


211 


increase the quantity of your output at the expense 
of its quality, nor go to the other extreme of use¬ 
less polishing or grinding at the expense of quantity. 
The man who can hit the happy mean of maximum 
output with the best quality is the most desirable 
workman. 

How are you to know the point beyond which 
refinement of your product would be waste? Only 
by study along two lines: in the first place, know 
the history of the part on which you are working; 
and secondly, know its function and position in the 
makeup of the completed product. If you find out 
what processes the part is still to undergo you will 
be able to judge whether to leave it in a rough or a 
smooth condition, whether to trim it or to pass it on 
with raw edges. Five minutes spent in polishing a 
bar after you have bent it will be wasted if the sec¬ 
ond or third man who handles it after you must de¬ 
stroy the polish. Do your work so that the part is 
perfect with respect to your processes and the fore¬ 
man will see that other operations are performed at 
the proper time. 

The second suggestion, to know the use and posi¬ 
tion of the part in the whole, will show you where 
__ T _ the greatest care should be used. If 

How Know- ° 

ledge of the the part has two bearing surfaces and 
Product Helps ^ wo exposed surfaces, the former should 

receive careful attention from the polisher, the latter 
none at all. Observation of these points will help 
you to place your work where it will accomplish the 
best results. 

The knowledge of mechanical engineering which 
you to place your work where it will accomplish the 
prenticeship and later experience may not be enough 


212 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


to fit you for a foreman’s position. You should know 
the principles of designing and of construction. 
These you can learn in almost any night school 
without interference with your regular work. Should 
such a course not be available the work offered in 
mechanical drawing by correspondence schools will 
give you considerable training if conscientiously car¬ 
ried out. 

Factory managers are looking for men in the 
ranks who show ability and a progressive spirit. 
Opportunities for advancement are open to them. 
Promotion follows close upon discovery of a man’s 
capacity. 


CHAPTER XXXIII 

THE RISE OF A CHIEF ENGINEER 

BY HUGO DIEMER 

Shop Systematizer, Goodman Manufacturing Company 

Directly below the managing officials of a manu¬ 
facturing plant ranks the works manager or chief 
engineer, a man of practical experience, a production 
expert with knowledge of executive matters. In the 
absence of his superiors he manages the establish¬ 
ment, directing the co-operation of departments, rul¬ 
ing on emergency questions that arise and that in¬ 
volve the integrity and the policy of the company. 
A technical man, he yet has a broad outlook on the 
affairs of the concern, which enables him to direct 
the workings of the whole plant. 

Such a man is a type of the highest development 
of the mechanical engineer. He has grown up 
through the ranks. Often he has gained his experi¬ 
ence, or a good part of it, in minor positions of the 
establishment which he later directs. 

Considering the great number of trained tech¬ 
nical men in modern industry, it would seem that 
eligible candidates for this position would be numer¬ 
ous. On the contrary, the great majority of men 
working in any of the producing departments fail 
to qualify for executive positions because they re¬ 
fuse to progress. I think it is a conservative esti¬ 
mate to say that not twenty-five per cent of the 

213 


214 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


graduates of engineering colleges achieve the degree 
of success they should. Becoming engrossed in one 
specialized branch of their profession, they fail to 
realize its relation with other departments of pro¬ 
duction and push to the extreme ideas of their own, 
which wise management would temper to fit the 
needs of other departments. The young man who 
aspires to a chief engineer’s position in a manufac¬ 
turing plant has therefore to educate himself broadly 
for the work. 

The education of a technical man is not complete 
when he graduates from his engineering college. He 
m . . ... has still to learn the details of practical 

Training After 1 

College Course operation; he must learn to master 

is Over problems that his text books did not 

treat of. If you have just completed your college 
course and aspire to fit yourself for factory man¬ 
agement, you cannot do better than to secure a posi¬ 
tion in some establishment where you can get, at 
first, a general view of manufacturing processes or 
of the materials used. A position as time taker, job 
tracer or stock clerk will teach you the elementary 
points of the business. 

In the stock department you can gain familiarity 
with every kind of raw material, and every com¬ 
pleted part. ITse this opportunity to learn the best 
sources for obtaining materials, the prevailing range 
of prices, the amounts usually carried in stock. 
Study the complete or partly finished product which 
fills your shelves. 

The job tracer can see in process of manufacture 
the various articles put out by the plant. If you 
are set to work following an automobile or a sewin" 
machine order through the factory you should be 


HUGO DIE ME R 


215 


flble to learn the processes through which it passes; 
in watching its transformation from raw material to 
finished product you can get a general view of all 
the operations, that is hidden from the draftsman or 
lathe worker, specializing in only one process. 

Should your first position be as timetaker, you 
will have not only the opportunity to study processes 
and to cultivate the difficult art of handling work¬ 
men, but you will be able to study the time consumed 
by different men on similar work and by the same 
men on different work; for your duties will be to 
check the work done by a certain group of men, not¬ 
ing the time when each of them began a job and 
the time when he completed it. You should notice 
the conduct and the methods of those men who 
prove to be most efficient, and study the systems of 
discipline that bring the best results. 

These are the possible means by which you may 
gain your first insight into factory operation and 
management. 'But if you are ambitious to reach 
the top, such work will not hold you very long. An 
opening will come in some one of the departments, 
you will be chosen to fill it, and your special training 
to supplement this general information will begin. 

Three associated lines of work offer avenues of 
approach to the chief executive position, through 
any one of which you may rise if you perfect your¬ 
self in the line of work you have chosen and learn 
the essential principles of the allied departments. 
These three branches are the designing department, 
the systematizing department, and the shops. In 
most establishments the head of any one of these 
branches is eligible to promotion to the position of 
chief engineer. 


216 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


If you have begun work as a draftsman, your 
line of progress lies through the drafting and de- 

signing branches to the management of 
The Progress ° ° . n 

of the Trained the designing department. 1 ou will 
Draftsman have to perfect your work as a designer 

before you can expect further promotion. Study the 
output of the plant so that you will understand thor¬ 
oughly the interworking of all parts and will know 
where and how better adjustments can be secured. 
You will have to guard, however, against the danger 
which all designers face: the temptation to push 
refinement and improvement of designs to such an 
extent that the processes of manufacture are hin¬ 
dered, useless expense is involved, and no practical 
advantage results. The greatest danger to the de¬ 
signer is his tendency toward the impractical in his 
zest for improvement. I have known machine con¬ 
struction shops where it was necessary to pass a 
strict rule that no change in the drawings for a ma¬ 
chine could be made after the materials were or¬ 
dered, so prone were the designers to offer sugges¬ 
tions for a change after the machines were partly 
constructed. 

After perfecting himself in his own work, the 
designer should study the other departments of the 
establishment. You must learn what the systematizer 
and the shop superintendent aim to secure—economy 
and practicability. Study costs of production—labor, 
power and material—and learn to co-operate in keep¬ 
ing these cost figures to the minimum. Study the 
peculiar needs of your plant and the uses of its out¬ 
put. Theory might dictate that a certain part 
should be made light, while practical experience 
shows that this part is subject to such unusual strain 


HUGO DIEMER 


217 


that it must be made abnormally heavy. Text 
books will not teach you such facts; they can be 
learned only through practical experience. Study 
commercial catalogs to familiarize yourself with 
standard sizes and styles of nuts and bolts and all 
the parts which go into the construction of your 
product. 

! he best way for a trained designer to secure 
the breadth of experience which he needs is by 
visits of inspection to manufacturing plants similar 
to the one with which he is connected. After you 
have mastered the construction problems at your 
own factory, secure leave of absence for this pur¬ 
pose, or prevail on your employers to send you on 
a trip of inspection. Comparative study is the best 
method of learning factory operation. 

If you are connected with the systematizing de¬ 
partment of the plant, you have access to the work- 

Knowiedge of systems of all departments. You 

How Shop should use this opportunity to learn the 
Systems Work details of operation, as well as the out¬ 
line. Learn not only what are the component ele¬ 
ments of the cost of a part, but the exact figures of 
its cost. Study not only how .a machine may be 
followed up in its course through the shop, but how 
fast it is practicable to push it. 

You should learn the principles of designing and 
the practice of shop management. Into these lines 
of work you will gain some insight in the course 
of your own duties, for you are expected to know 
every item that constitutes finished product find 
every step involved in the handling of each piece. 
You must know what is the most advantageous man¬ 
ufacturing quantity of every item, so as to secure 


218 


EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE 


uniformity of output as well as economy of manu¬ 
facture. You must know liow long each step ought 
to take under the most favorable working conditions. 
You must be able to tell at any time the exact con¬ 
dition of every part involved in the manufacturing 
process. 

You must be able not only to plan but to exe¬ 
cute. This requires the qualification of knowledge 
of men, as well as knowledge of system. 

The systematizing department probably makes 
more versatile executives than any other line of 
work in the manufacturing business. Your knowl¬ 
edge of production systems, no matter whether se¬ 
cured in a furniture factory or a machine shop, you 
can apply to any other line of manufacturing, for 
fundamental methods must be the same in all. 

I have known men who were trained in electrical 
manufacturing plants, who passed to gas engine 
works, harvester plants, motor vehicle factories—ap¬ 
plying to all these diversified lines the experience 
which they had gained in each of the others. 

If you have grown up in the production end of 
the business, and have risen through the successive 

The Chances stages of foreman, department superin- 
of a Shop- tendent and superintendent of shops, in 
Trained Man order to become eligible to the chief 
engineer’s position, you will have to learn enough 
of the work of designing and of systematizing so 
that you can harmonize all the activities of the plant, 


without undue emphasis upon the mechanical proc¬ 
esses. Your greatest difficulty will be to give up 
the oversight of details to your subordinates, so that 
you may devote time and thought to the broader 
questions of factory management. 


HUGO DIEMER 


219 


If yon try to keep your close control of the 
labor supply, the following up of rush orders, the 
timekeeping and payroll—matters which should be 
turned over to your assistants—you will stagnate 
in the mass of routine. One year, in order to keep 
up an average working force of 200 men, I inter¬ 
viewed 5,000 candidates and had them fill out ap¬ 
plication blanks. I actually hired 1,000 men. Then 
I shifted the work to someone else. The superintend¬ 
ent of a great plant cannot afford the time to at¬ 
tend personally to such details. 

Join the associations of mechanical engineers, 
and of factory executives; take part in their discus¬ 
sions of operating problems. This will give you an 
insight into the side of manufacturing which deals 
with plans and projects. Endeavor to initiate im¬ 
provements, as well as to carry out those designed 
by the engineering department; try to simplify re¬ 
ports and reduce costs, as well as putting into oper¬ 
ation the systematizer’s ideas. 

The chief engineer’s position is waiting for the 
man who shows his ability to handle the problems 
that arise in any part of a plant, who is able to 
deal with rush orders, labor situations and hard 
times. No matter through which branch of the or¬ 
ganization he rises, the attainment of the goal for 
any man depends on the possession of the qualities of 
adaptability, breadth of experience and progressive¬ 
ness. 


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